Working in a consortium of consultants led by Rider Levitt Bucknall, BM3 Architecture was selected through a competitive tender process to work on the refurbishment of Sandwell Homes stock of high rise flats. The aim was to meet the Government’s Decent Homes standard by 2010.
Astbury and Lawrence Courts are eight storey blocks built in 1964, rectangular in footprint and of in-situ RC ‘W.J. Whitehall’ construction. The existing elevations are clad in brickwork supported at each level on concrete nibs.
The proposed redesign comprises existing balconies that are now enclosed and clad with aluminium panels and a new low maintenance pitched roof caps the buildings. The elevations have been insulated and clad with render and terracotta tiles, improving both the thermal and acoustic performance of the building as well as being aesthetically pleasing. All communal areas have been redecorated and fire precautions works carried out throughout.
