THE £12.8-million project to replace cladding on two high-rise apartment blocks in the centre of St Austell is now well under way. 

Trelawney House and Piran Place, which adjoin the White River Place shopping centre, are undergoing major building safety improvement works. 

The scheme includes removing cladding, render, sections of brickwork, other facade materials and wooden balconies, followed by the installation of compliant fire safety systems and new external finishes. 

The works are being carried out to ensure the buildings meet fire safety and building regulations introduced following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. The existing cladding is no longer considered suitable under modern fire safety standards and is being replaced as a precautionary measure. 

An aerial view of the project in Trinity Street, St Austell. (Picture: Paul Williams)
An aerial view of the project in Trinity Street, St Austell. (Picture: Paul Williams)

The project is expected to take around 95 weeks and forms part of the national building safety programme for residential higher-risk buildings. It is being funded through the government’s cladding safety scheme, managed by Homes England, which supports the remediation of historic building safety defects. 

Huge amounts of scaffolding are being erected to enable the works to be carried out safely and this has necessitated encroaching onto Trinity Street, which has been turned one-way. 

The specialist freestanding scaffolding in front of Piran Place is due to be completely erected by October 20. After this, the scaffolding team will move straight on to erecting scaffolding for Trelawney House.    

Trinity Street in St Austell has been turned one-way for the duration of the project. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)
Trinity Street in St Austell has been turned one-way for the duration of the project. (Picture: Andrew Townsend)

Cladding removal and replacement will begin on Piran Place at the same time – although some of the demolition has already begun with the removal of all the wooden balconies in September.   

The volunteer-run residents’ management company, THPP Management Company Ltd, together with its managing agents, consultants and contractors, has spent more than five years planning the works, The re-cladding and facade replacement works are being undertaken by Classic Builders on behalf of the THPP Management Company and Bailey Partnership, in association with Plymouth Block Management.