Heller House Feasibility Report 090616g

Heller House Condition Report

September 2016

Revision – Final Issue.

Ealing Council – Property Services Delivery Unit

Property Services Delivery Unit 2

Version Control

Note

Revision No.

Date Issued

Description of Revision: Page No.

Description of Revision: Comment

Reviewed by:

Draft Rev 1 09/06/16 Initial draft T Mulvihill

Draft Rev 2 20/06/16 Further details added

I Smith

Draft Rev 3 23/06/16 Comments incorporated

TMulvihill

Draft Rev 4 01/07/16

Comment incorporated post Mtg with Team 24/06/16

TMulvihill

Final Issue 20/09/16

Watermark removed costs updated and report issued to ESCAN

TMulvihill


Contents

Appendices ................................................................................................... 3

1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 4

1.1 Background ................................................................................. 4

1.2 Scope of this Report ................................................................... 4

2 Executive Summary .............................................................................. 5

2.1 Key Findings ............................................................................... 5

3 Project Context...................................................................................... 6

3.1 Site Description ........................................................................... 6

3.2 Site Ownership ........................................................................... 6

4 Site Investigations ................................................................................. 7

4.1 Windows. .................................................................................... 7

4.2 Floors. ......................................................................................... 8

4.3 Walls ......................................................................................... 12

4.4 Roof. ......................................................................................... 14

4.5 Circulation Areas. ..................................................................... 16

4.6 Lifts. .......................................................................................... 17

4.7 Electrical and mechanical installations ..................................... 17

4.8 Conclusion ................................................................................ 18

5 Recommendations .............................................................................. 18

6 Appendices ......................................................................................... 19

Appendices

Appendix A - Location plan

Appendix B - Floor Plans

Appendix C - Costs


1 Introduction

1.1 Background

Heller House is an Ealing Council property situated at 124 Norwood Road, Southall and is currently being used by Ealing Service for Children with Additional Needs (ESCAN) as a respite care centre for young people with complex disabilities.

The original building was a family residence built on the site of a former flour mill and constructed in the early 1900’s. Additions and alterations have been made to the original building over the following years.

While the building is currently functional, it is approaching the point where major building fabric repairs and alterations will be required to bring it to current day building standards. The wider context of this report is an ongoing review of the provision of respite care throughout the borough. The findings of this report will contribute to that review process.

1.2 Scope of this Report

The scope of this report is to determine the condition of the building fabric of Heller House, provide costs for any repairs or replacements required and list out what would be required to bring the centre to current building standards. At the time of the survey (May 16) the building was in use as a respite centre. A visual survey of the existing building fabric was the method chosen as an intrusive survey would have meant closing off and putting out of use areas of the building, opening up sections of floors, walls, ceilings etc. which would be a major disruption to both the children and staff using the centre.


2 Executive Summary

2.1 Key Findings

The building fabric of Heller house was visually surveyed in May 2016.

The main building was originally a family house built in the 1900 which has been added to in the 1960’s and again in the late 1990’s.

The major elements of the main house (windows, floors, walls and roof) were found to be in need of either major repair or replacement. Replacing or repairing each of the main building fabric elements impacts the adjoining elements which in turn increases the total overall cost of the works The cost of the required repairs and replacements is estimated to be in the region of £1m. This does not take into account the works required to rationalise the interior of the existing building and give wheelchair users level access throughout the upper floors. The cost of the internal alteration works taken together with the cost of fees and contractors overheads and profit would give a total cost to repair and rationalise the current Heller House building of circa £2.3m It is highly likely that the provision of a purpose built facility elsewhere would be more cost effective then the extensive repair and remodelling of Heller House. New build specifically designed respite accommodation of 500msq would cost in the region of £3000 msq giving a build cost of £1.5m. Ideally the land to site the building would be readily available and owned by Ealing Council.


3 Project Context

3.1 Site Description

Heller House is located on the west side of Norwood Road, Southall and functions as a respite centre for young people with complex disabilities from 10 to 18 years old living in the borough.

The building is set in a large garden which includes a variety of outdoor play equipment. The building footprint is approximately 500 msq. The ground floor consists of 4 bedrooms, 1 bathroom 3 WC’s a kitchen, laundry room, TV room and dining room, toy store, splash pool and wet play area. The 1st floor consists of 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, admin office, staff sleep-in, stores and staff sitting room and kitchen area. At the time of the survey, four of the upstairs bedrooms were being used as office or store areas. The facilities are predominantly located on the ground and 1st floor floors but there is a section of the building located on a second floor which is used as a staff area.

The Council’s Planning Dept. records show that works to the ‘outbuildings’ took place in 1961 and a single story extension incorporating the ground floor bedrooms, wet room and play areas were approved in 1997 and built in 1998.

App no Proposal Decision date

17612/1 Single storey extensions to existing respite care facilities (Heller house) comprising additional office floor space, bedrooms and leisure facilities (wet play), erection of screen wall and gate and provision of on-site parking

18/09/1997

S3192 Rebuilding of outbuildings 11/02/1961

3.2 Site Ownership

The site is owned by Ealing Council.


4 Site Investigations

4.1 Windows.

As may be expected in a property of this age many of the windows are of traditional single glazed vertical sliding sash design. These type of windows are difficult to maintain and a major source of heat loss from the building. Many were found to be in poor condition and replacement with a design to match the existing in either timber, Aluminium, or UPVC with double glazed sealed units is required to reduce both maintenance and the overall running costs of the centre.

Single glazed vertical sliding sash design windows However, due to the building methods prevalent when the main house was constructed, most sash windows were set within purpose built brick window reveals and to remove them would mean cutting away sections of the plaster surrounding the windows. This in turn would have to be replaced. Also once sections of the plaster are removed (particularly if it is the original plaster) it is possible that further adjacent sections become loose and debond. It is not unknown in this type of scenario that all the plaster on the window wall having to be removed as a result of the widows being removed. A further complication is that the original sash windows were installed with timber lintels spanning between the brickwork panels or columns either side. Although the installation of timber lintels were acceptable when the building was originally constructed, to comply with current regulations these will need to be removed and replaced with concrete or steel lintels. This in turn will necessitate part of the existing brickwork, either side of the lintels, being cut back and replaced by concrete pads to act as bearing plates for the lintels. As can be seen from the above, replacing the outdated existing windows has a knock on effect on the surrounding building elements which in turn increases the overall cost of repairs. This is a common feature of refurbishment works to properties of this age and it becomes evident again when other building elements are examined.


4.2 Floors.

The floors to the building are on many different levels. This was particularly prevalent on the 1st floor area of the original building. In addition parts of the ground floor, principally the entrance area and adjoining hallway, were found to be sloping. Since the brief for the survey was limited to a visual survey only and non-intrusive, no floorboards were lifted to investigate the cause. The cause of the ground floor front entrance area sloping was unknown but a reasonable assumption was that it was due to one or all of the following reasons: -

• An inspection of the external wall at low level to the front elevation revealed the absence of a visible damp proof course and sufficient number of air bricks to provide ventilation and a flow of air to the hollow timber floors within. Both of these factors will cause decaying of the structural timbers supporting the floor, particularly the wall plates on the honeycombed supporting walls and the floor joists.

• The foundations of buildings built circa 1900 were usually constructed of

brickwork spreaders directly built on ash or clinker. Unlike foundations constructed today on concrete at a minimum depth of 1.1 meters the foundations built in this particular era rarely exceeded 0.5 meters in depth. As a result these relatively shallow foundations are prone to movement due to frost and soil shrinkage. Water demands of the local vegetation and defective drainage also adversely affect shallow foundations. As a result the foundations to different parts of the building will move at different rates. This in turn will lead to sloping floors and structural movement. Photographs of structural movement to walls and ceilings confirm structural movement has taken place.

Note the absence of a damp proof course or air bricks


Sloping floors and staircase by main entrance

Multiply levels within the circulation areas


Sloping floor – by the main entrance The cost of the works required to rectify the sloping floors and multiple levels in Heller House can only be estimated at present. To arrive at a fully costed figure for the works required to this element would involve extensive invasive work in the form of closing off the selected rooms or areas, removing the floor coverings, taking up the floor boards, (and setting these aside for reuse) and carefully examining the exposed timbers and supporting structure to understand the extent of the problem. Sloping timber floors – particularly on the ground floor of a building - generally indicate at best issues with the honeycomb sleeper walls and/or wall plates that support the timber joists that that floor boards are fixed to. At worst the sloping of the timber floors particularly on the ground floor of a building could be due to the presence of dry or wet rot where wall plates and subsequently the floor joists are gradually rotting away. One of the main contributory causes of this is the air bricks in the external walls that were originally installed when the property was built to provide a flow of air to the floor joists, being removed or blocked up.

As with replacing the windows noted above, once a decision has been made to rectify an element of the building fabric, impacting the associated elements is unavoidable. To take up the floors the existing floor covering will suffer in the process. So too will the existing floor boards and skirtings. Once the skirting is taken off, sections of the existing plaster will also be affected and need to be replaced which in turns adds to the cost. Sloping floors at first floor level could indicate the ends of the joints (where traditionally these where built into the external walls on embedded wall plates,) beginning to decay


and in need of replacement. This would involve taking up large sections of the existing floor coverings, skirtings floorboards and the underside of the ceiling of the floor below to expose the end of the existing floor joists. It will also involve providing supports to the floor while the joist ends are removed from the wall. New joist ends (the length and bolting details of which would need to be designed and detailed by a Structural Engineer) will be required to be fitted Once again adjoining elements such as the plaster on the walls and on the ceiling below the affected area below will need to be removed. The chances are once sections of ceilings begin to be removed the whole of the plaster ceiling in that room will need to be removed and replaced to avoid unseemly joints when parts of a ceiling are repaired. Other costs which will need to be considered when replacing and relevelling floors are adjustments or replacements of existing doors, frames and architraves.


4.3 Walls

A visual inspection of the external brick walls indicated that they were in reasonable condition but were in need of repointing and some localised investigation as to possibility of water ingress.

Pointing required to sections of external wall

Possible ingress of rainwater from overflowing or leaking rain water pipe. Besides repointing and some localised repair and the replacement of air bricks should a new timber floor be required the major issue with the walls at Heller House was the potential heat loss and low U-value of the existing brickwork and the associated high running costs of heating the centre. To significantly increase the U-value of the external walls the internal face of the walls in each of the downstairs of the property would be required to be lined with Gyroc thermal board or other similar type of insulating thermal board. Before fixing the new thermal board to the inside face of the external walls all the existing plaster would need to be checked to ensure that it would not debond soon after the thermal board is fixed. During the survey some of the existing wall and ceiling plaster was found to be in poor condition and in need of repair.


Wall plaster in need of repair

Ceiling plaster to be repaired As has been noted previously when discussing rectifying the windows and floors at Heller House, works to repair a particular element will affect the adjoining elements. Replacing the windows will affect the adjoining plaster. Works to repair and replace the flooring will also mean that large sections of plater will end up being replaced. Taking this together with the fact that sections of the existing wall plaster will need to be replaced to fix the thermal insulation board it would be prudent to calculate that all the existing internal plaster is removed. This would allow the internal face of the external walls to be rendered and thermal board spot fixed to the render. The face of the thermal boards would in turn be plastered and repainted to provide a smooth finish. Once again, in the course of improving one element adjacent elements will be affected if only to draw attention to the fact that they in turn need attention. Painting only one wall in a room and leaving the others would not be recommended. It will inevitably be necessary to re-decorate all rooms affected by installing new window, fixing thermal board and replacing damaged plaster. This in turn adds further to the overall cost.


4.4 Roof.

A visual inspection of the main slate roof coverings from the exterior of the building did not reveal any significant defects.

Pitched roof coverings generally in good condition.

The flat roof coverings on the canal side of the building are showing signs of wear.

Maintenance works required

Flat roof showing signs of wear.


At the time of the survey a thorough inspection of the roof timbers was not possible because of the timber boarding installed below the roof rafters internally. The inspection carried out from within one attic area revealed movement of the structural supporting timbers had occurred and a metal fixing straps had been installed to prevent further movement.

Temporary repairs carried out to address the issue of the movement of roof structural supports moving. To fully survey and understand if there are any major issues with the main roof timbers it would be necessary to remove all the existing timber boarding. This would be a timely and costly exercise and would only be cost effective if serious consideration was being given to fully refurbishing and rationalising the existing building. It is apparent from the picture above that some movement has taken place. For the purposes of this report it can be noted that if the decision was made to repair and replace the main building elements previously outlined (windows, floors, walls) at minimum current building regulations would require additional roof strengthening and wall plate fixing straps would be required. If the decision be taken to rationalise the interior of the building by widening the existing corridors this in turn would have an impact on the roof support timbers as it is not clear how these are currently being supported. In buildings of this age the roof supports were usually supported on the timber stud framework of the lower floors and if this is to change alternative supports would need to be provided. This could involve specially designed steel work supports on foundations from the ground floor being necessary.


4.5 Circulation Areas.

As stated previously in the Introduction section of this report the building was originally a family home which was reputedly bequeathed to the Council. The original building has been increased in size by the addition of a number of ad hock extensions over the years to meet the evolving needs of the building occupants and users. As a result, the layout and configuration are far from ideal and basically lack a coherent design. There are no “lines of sight” which would allow staff to administer care through continual monitoring. Bedrooms for clients are remote from a central post and regular patrolling of staff is required during the night to ensure the wellbeing of the clients within their care. Other problems with the circulation areas are the sloping and multiple floor levels which are discussed in the previous section. In addition the corridors and doors are not sufficiently wide and as such are not DDA compliant. The works required to widen corridors to comply with DDA Regulations would be extensive as it has implications for the structural support for the floors and ceilings of the adjacent rooms and the roof structure.

Note narrow sloping corridor and “step up” to rooms.

Multiply levels on 1st floor


4.6 Lifts.

As discussed above the building is not DDA compliant for a variety of reasons which include multiple floor levels, sloping floors and corridors of insufficient width to allow access by wheel chair users. A further consideration is access to the first floor by wheelchair users is not possible due to the absence of any lifts within the building. This problem could be overcome by installing a lift or lifts either within or on the external face of the building. Installation of a lift internally has the disadvantage of effectively removing a number of rooms from the interior due to its size and the need to provide landing arrangements. Installation of a lift or lifts externally is an option but this would require planning permission. Should the decision be taken to install a lift to the first floor it may not be possible to make all the rooms on this floor DDA compliant due to the multiply stair levels. See Appendix B Floor Plans. Bedrooms 6 – 10 and 11 and 12.

4.7 Electrical and mechanical installations

The condition of the electrical and mechanical installations are unknown and were not included as part of this survey. A cursory inspection revealed rusting radiators and ageing boilers. A full and detailed survey by both an electrical and mechanical engineer is required to give a more accurate picture of these services. For the purposed of this report is reasonable to assume that should major refurbishments of the building occur the costs of renewing these services would need to be included.

Rusting radiator behind cover.

At the team meeting in Perceval House on 23rd June 2016 it was reported that the boilers had recently failed. When they were inspected by the Heating Maintenance Engineer his opinion was that they were in urgent need of either renewal or a major overhaul.


4.8 Conclusion

Heller House is a functioning building providing respite care for children with complex disabilities in the borough. The ground floor of the building has four very good bedrooms, a sensory room, a splash pool and wet play recreation area. The major issue is that these facilities which were added in the late 1990’s are joined to a building that is circa 100 years old and rapidly reaching the point where major repairs and replacement works are required to ensure the building continues to function and is safe. Besides the sloping floors, windows in need of replacement, walls that are badly insulated and potential movement of the roof timbers, there is the issue of narrow corridors and multiply levels, steps and stairs on the upper floors. Significant sums of money will need to be spent to repair, replace and bring to modern standards the existing main building elements. This does not take into account the sums required to move existing partitions to widen corridors, strengthen and replace roof timbers and install lifts to make a building that is circa 100 years old DDA compliant. This level of refurbishment would also require the existing mechanical and electrical services to be totally renewed. A full list of the potential cost involved is included in Appendix C

5 Recommendations

The recommendation of this report is that colleagues within Ealing Council’s Children, Adults and Public Health reviewing the current provision of respite care throughout the borough take the findings of this report into consideration when considering their future strategy. The cost of the required repairs and replacements is estimated to be in the region of £1m. This does not take into account the works required to rationalise the interior of the existing building and give wheelchair users level access throughout the upper floors. The cost of the internal alteration works taken together with the cost of fees and contractors overheads and profit would give a total cost to repair and rationalise the current Heller House building of circa £2.3m It is highly likely that the provision of a purpose built facility elsewhere would be more cost effective then the extensive repair and remodelling of Heller House. New build specifically designed respite accommodation of 500msq would cost in the region of £3000 msq giving a build cost of £1.5m. Ideally the land to site the building would be readily available and owned by Ealing Council.


6 Appendices

6.1.1 Appendix A – Location plan


6.1.2 Appendix B – Ground Floor Plan


Appendix B – 1 st Floor Plan


6.1.3 Appendix C – Cost Plan.

Heller House ‐ Estimated Repair and Replacement Costs for Main Building Elements

Ref Item Quantity Rate £ Total £

No.1 Replacing windows

a

Take out and replace all the single glazed windows ‐ GF (less 1msq) with

double glazed aluminium units. 10 633 6,330.00

b

Take out and replace all the single glazed windows ‐ GF (greater 2msq) with


c

Take out and replace all the single glazed windows ‐ FF (less 1msq) with


d

Take out and replace all the single glazed windows ‐ FF (greater 2msq ) with


e Take out existing timber lintels and replace with steel 40 220 8,800.00

f Cut back existing brickwork and cast pad stones ‐ all as per engineers design 40 170 6,800.00

g

Take off the existing plaster from the internal face of the external walls where

windows are fixed and cart away from site 610 15 9,150.00

h

Allow a contingency for unforeseen items (dry rot) when the windows are

removed. item 25,000.00

No 2 Replacing Floors

a Take up the existing floor coverings and remove from site ‐ item Item 1,000.00

b Take up existing floor and where possible set aside for reuse 200 13 2,600.00

c Carefully examine the existing floor joists and sleeper walls Item 800.00

Where required rebuild sleeper walls on concrete foundations at the required

level bed new wall plate on dpc. Average 0.6m depth x 4.5m width x 5 no =

13.5.linear m per room x 7 areas. (7x 13.5 = Works to be carried out to the

following GF rooms: ‐ 94.5 120 11,340.00

d

Replace floor joist ‐ new sawn tanalised timber to match existing allow 200

linear metres including noggins to hall, dining room, TV room, Office and

replace flooring. 200 30 6,000.00

Allowance for replacing flooring 400 35 14,000.00

Repairs to 1st floor joists and flooring

Lift floor coverings and take up existing floor boards Item 2,500.00

Remove plaster from affected ceilings to area to be repaired and clear from

site Item 5,500.00

Provide support to underside of affected joists, (across or similar together with

spreader plates) ‐ all to be approved by the Structural Engineer Item 3,200.00 Carefully cut away brickwork from joist ends ‐ allow £15K Item 15,000.00

Take out sections of embedded wall plate and brick up Item 6,700.00

Cut back affected joist ends. Length to be confirmed by the Structural

Engineer. 80 40 3,200.00

Provide new section of joist to match existing. Bolt new section of floor joist to

existing ‐ all as approved by the Structural Engineer. 80 130 10,400.00

Protect the joist ends with visqueen and hang on joist hangers 80 50 4,000.00

Re‐brick between timber joists where wall plate removed Item 17,000.00

Fix new floor boards to affected area Item 14,000.00

No 3 Walls

Internal face of external wall, prepare the wall to receive a sand and cement

render . 610 6 3,660.00

Render the internal face of the external wall to provide added protection and

increase thermal mass. 610 35 21,350.00

Fix Gyproc Thermal board or equivalent 250 42 10,500.00

Take off all the existing plaster on the ground floor walls and cart away from

site. 804 15 12,060.00

Ditto Ist floor 690 15 10,350.00

Sand and cement render to ground floor brick walls with two coat plaster

finish. 200 55 11,000.00

Fix plasterboard tape and skim to ground floor plasterboard walls 410 22 9,020.00

Ditto ceilings including double boarding ceilings for fire separation 450 33 14,850.00

Sand and cement render to 1st floor brick walls with two coat plaster finish. 44 55 2,420.00

Fix plasterboard tape and skim to 1st floor plasterboard walls 370 33 12,210.00

Ditto ceilings including double boarding ceilings for fire separation 325 33 10,725.00

No 4 Roof Take off all the existing timber boarding fixed to the joists and rafters Item 15,000.00

Allow for roof timber strengthening Item 17,000.00

Allow repairs to the pitched roof covering Item 10,000.00

Allow for repairs and renewals to the flat roofs Item 12,000.00

No 5 Additional building elements

New sanitary ware ‐ supply and install throughout Item 24,000.00

Allow for new fire doors installed throughout and fixed including door frames,

architraves and ironmongery (20 + 19) 29 900 26,100.00

Tiling Item 4,000.00

Floor covering ‐ carpet and vinyl throughout 780 25 19,500.00

Asbestos (R&D) survey and removal ‐ allowance Item 45,000.00

No 6 Mechanical and Electrical Installation

Allow costs for new M&E installation including new boilers, distribution pipe

works, controls, radiators, and hot water storage systems. Allow for new

wiring sockets, switches, distribution boards, etc. all to be located in a

dedicated plant room area. 780 650 507,000.00 1,002,715.00

No 7 Works required to reconfigure internal layouts

Carefully support and secure existing structure ‐ temporary propping and

support where required. Item 10,000.00

Provide additional steelwork support for roof and upper floor timbers as

required including all concrete foundations, fire protection and casing as

required. Item 300,000.00

Allowance for localised underpinning including excavation and cart away to

required level, earthwork support, backfill with reinforced concrete, class A

engineering bricks, damp proof course and new brickwork to match existing 30 3500 105,000.00

Allowance for alterations to internal drainage including ‐ excavation to remove

existing drainage and carting away from site and grubbing up of manholes

where required. 20 110 2,200.00

Allowance for installing new internal drainage including excavation to required

levels, formwork support where required, new cast iron Timesaver drain pipes

and including all bends and fittings as required, concrete surround and testing

and commissioning to Building Control satisfaction. Allow for all manholes as

required with sealed access covers at floor level. Item 45,000.00

New 6 person internal lift including all builders work in connection with. Item 75,000.00

New studwork walls taped and jointed to form new internal partitions Item 50,000.00 587,200.00

No 8 Additional cost to carry out the works noted above 1,589,915.00

Fees for design and supervision of the works 14% 1,589,915.00 222,588.10

Structural Engineer Design 2.50% 1,589,915.00 39,747.88

Contractors Prelims, Supervision & OHP 12% 1,589,915.00 190,789.80

TOTAL 2,043,040.78

Client Contingency 15% 306,456.12

Budget Cost 2,349,496.89

Heller House Feasibility Report 090616g

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