First high-rise in Scotland has dangerous Grenfell-style cladding removed

A block of flats in Aberdeen has become the first in Scotland to have dangerous cladding removed – seven years after 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire.

The Aurora Apartments in Ferryhill are among several “high-priority” buildings in Scotland earmarked for renovation under a Scottish Government pilot programme.

The nine-storey building underwent extensive reconstruction to meet strict fire safety regulations.

Existing wall cladding and insulation materials, both of which were combustible, were removed and replaced with fire-safe non-combustible products to eliminate the risk of a blaze spreading over the outside of the building.

The work, the first funded by the Single Building Assessments programme, was carried out while the residents of the 22 flats remained in their homes.

It was funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Diamond & Company (Scotland) Ltd Chartered Building Surveyors and Chartered Fire Engineers.

Phil Diamond, managing director of the firm, said: “The Grenfell fire exposed a systemic failure in all aspects of cladding installation in buildings throughout the UK.

“The completion of the work on the Aurora apartments in Aberdeen now provides an industry blueprint on how to make similar high-rise buildings much less vulnerable in the event of a fire.

Diamond & Company (Scotland) Ltd Chartered Building Surveyors and Chartered Fire Engineers.

“The residents in the Aurora apartments should sleep soundly at night now, knowing their building is much safer.

“The new non-combustible cladding is the highest standard on the market, stopping any fire from spreading over the outside of the building.”

In 2022, Holyrood banned the use of combustible cladding in high-rises following the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017 in which 72 people died.

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Mr Diamond said the new cladding means that if a serious fire were to occur in the flats it would be unable to spread over the outside of the building.

He went on: “It was an extremely challenging project which involved opening up the building and removing the timber support frame and other combustible materials.

“We used a drone with laser scanning to survey the building, and surrounding area, to help us produce detailed architectural drawings to plan the work required to make the block of flats safer.

“We are now moving ahead with similar projects across Scotland and the rest of the UK and look forward to the completion of other remediation works in the coming years.”

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.

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