Allied London has announced preparations for the commencement of an initial phase of work to sympathetically repair and restore the iconic London Road Fire Station building fabric back to a state of good repair.

Scaffolding is being erected across London Road and Fairfield Street in Manchester. Allied London’s team has been working closely with the scaffolding designers to ensure the need for fixing into the building is totally avoided, in relation to the ornate Terracotta façade.

All works, materials, scope and methodology are being prepared by the appointed building surveying and project consultancy team, in conjunction with the appointed historic consultant Steve Levrant from Historic Architecture, and in consultation with Historic England and Manchester City Council’s conservation team, who will be kept informed through all stages of the Fire Station’s restoration project.

Allied London’s historic building surveyor, Stephen Ellis, has worked on the project since planning consent was granted. He commented: “Time has been required to understand this heritage asset, explore its values and assess it’s significance, before we intelligently manage any change. We’ve been carrying out detailed surveys and analysis necessary to meet both planning and listed building consent conditions. As well as the work being done behind the scenes, we have importantly kept the building maintained and in constant use through various filming activities, tours and events.”

The next steps will include erecting temporary access scaffolding to a section of the external elevations to provide safe access to undertake a detailed external inspection of the buildings high level areas over the coming weeks. This will run alongside establishing a scope and sympathetic approach for undertaking a series of investigation works and material sampling to enhance Allied London’s understanding of the building fabric. It also provides opportunity to evaluate proposed cleaning and repair methods at an early stage to establish the most beneficial and appropriate techniques to be implemented through the careful restoration of the building’s superstructure.

Mark Taylor, Director, Watts Group commented “Watts are delighted to be part of Allied London’s team now moving forward with the restoration of such a prominent building within the context of Manchester’s social and architectural heritage. It will be very rewarding to see a building of this quality brought back to life by Allied London.”

You can find out more about London Road Fire Station in this article.