Three towering blocks of residential flats that have been a feature of Blackburn’s skyline for the past 60 years are in line for some major safety upgrades.
The trio of towers on Birley Street, St Michaels Court, St Albans Court, and Trinity Court, are all the subject of new applications by social housing provider, Together Housing Group.
These detail a number of major fire safety improvements across all three high rises to ‘ensure the building meets the current regulations’, according to plans submitted by the housing association conglomerate to Blackburn with Darwen Council.
Once they have been approved, every resident across the 13-storey towers’ 183 flats will benefit from a new fire safety system that should prevent smoke from filling the communal areas, should the worst happen.
Together Housing proposes doing this through an increasingly common feature in high rise buildings, Automatically Opening Vents (AOVs).
AOVs are mechanisms that connect to a building’s fire alarm system so that they can independently force a window to open when smoke is detected, even in the second-oldest surviving high rises in Blackburn.
In combination with the sprinkler systems that have been fitted in the past few years, these additional safety measures mean that residents should be able to safely evacuate the buildings in the event of a fire – something which has become increasingly important in the new regulations that have followed the Grenfell fire inquiry.
These AOVs will be installed in every window of the communal lobby and bin chute areas, across all 13 floors of each of the high rises. It is expected that most of these safety mechanisms will be fitted without needing to replace every window.
However, they will be replacing a set of windows on the top floor of each tower, installing one AOV but leaving two other windows that can be opened manually, should occupants want to improve ventilation during warm weather.
Residents will also notice some much-needed improvements to the main entrances to each building, which are currently single glazed and timber framed.
Bringing these entryways into the 21st century, Together Housing is proposing to install aluminium framed doors with double glazed windows. Importantly, these too will have AOVs installed.
In their design and access statement, applicants Together Housing explain why these works are needed, saying: “The proposed scheme is to undertake a combination of works to address concerns with the building’s compliance and performance with regards to fire safety.”
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