Bowland House

Project overview

We have recently completed the refurbishment on Bowland House in Blackburn to transform the block to create a striking new landmark on the gateway to the town.

The works include; improving the insulation of the external walls covering 3,500m², installing new windows and flat entrance doors that have a 60-minute fire rating, the installation of a sprinkler system to all flats and communal areas and the installation of an innovative evacuation system, which in the unlikely event of an incident, will allow the Fire and Rescue Service to evacuate a single floor or any multiples of floors. We will also be installing new hot water cylinders, electric showers and communal lighting and replacing the existing roof, winter balconies to all flats to improve the look of the building and refurbishing the communal areas and the communal room on the ground floor.

Also, during the design stage, we suggested to the client that we move the services out of the risers in the bathrooms and out of the resident property altogether.

Managing the decant - Our highly trained and experienced Resident Liaison Officers, worked closely with customers through consultation events, one-to-one appointments, pre-entry surveys, letters and visits to minimise no-access occurrences and try to ensure the ‘buy-in’ of all stakeholders. 

Due to the extent of the refurbishment, residents were decanted for 5 days to carry out a full bathroom refurbishment. Although this isn’t the norm, we did this for resident safety due to the asbestos within the bathroom.

There are some void properties in the building which were upgraded decorated and fitted out for residents to move into whilst works to their bathroom take place.

We used a storage facility for resident’s belongings, this ensured everything was fully covered by insurance and carried out a full inventory of all items removed.

Benefits to the client - We removed the services out of the bathroom risers and onto the outside of the building to prevent any disruptive access to resident properties for maintenance purposes.

Resident engagement - When developing the scope for the works we liaised with both the client and the residents. It was clear there was an issue with vermin coming through the balconies and therefore it was decided something had to be done. We consulted with residents to identify the best approach from different windows and pest reduction, but it was ultimately decided the best approach was to close up the balconies.