Balcony Fire Remediation Project with curved terraces and walkways at Horizons assisted living block in Poole

Fire safety remediation projects are underway across the UK with thousands of buildings undergoing fire safety reviews. This ongoing Building Safety Crisis has seen many leaseholders caught in the middle of an all-too-often labyrinthine process, but much progress has been made as conscientious building owners and managers continue to roll out these essential refurbishment works.

One such project is at the Horizons Assisted Living complex in Poole, Dorset. McCarthy Stone, the building’s manager, took the proactive decision to switch to aluminium decking as part of fire safety improvement works. Rapidly becoming the de facto standard for architects, designers and specifiers for new builds, aluminium decking and balcony components have proven to be a cost-effective and fire safe solution for balcony refurbishment projects.

With incredibly scenic views, the retirement home has a range of curved and rectangular walk-on balconies, terraces, and walkways on the external walls of the property and these are a much-loved and essential outdoor living space amenity for the residents.

The contractors for the project, Spetisbury Construction, replaced the existing composite decking boards with our non-combustible aluminium decking. The decking boards specified for this project were our ridged Senior Board, chosen for its strength and stability, but also for its excellent slip resistance. This was an important feature to help protect the elderly residents from falls in wet weather.

Careful planning was required to cope with many of the complex, curved shapes to the deck areas but with close collaboration between AliDeck and Spetisbury, these challenges were easily overcome. Our Drainage Channels were also sited between each decking board to collect and divert rainwater to the balcony edges for more controlled evacuation. Colour-matched angle trims and infills were used to create a seamless finish to all areas for an excellent visual impact.

While the fire safety remediation process was underway, some of the residents required their balcony plants to be relocated to keep them safe. All of these potted plants were carefully moved into a secure area with access to sunlight and two members of the Spetisbury installation team ensured the plants were watered and looked after. This is a lovely and thoughtful gesture by Spetisbury and should be commended. Certainly, the residents were very pleased to have their plants returned to their balconies in good and healthy condition.

“AliDeck was the perfect choice for replacing the existing composite decking at Horizons; non-combustible, slip resistant, durable and offered with a 15-year Marine Warranty in this coastal location. The stone grey from their standard colour range works beautifully with the contemporary architecture and AliDeck’s Richard Izzard worked with the project to provide design solutions for the varied shapes and sizes of balconies, including curved corner and tapered balconies.” – Jackie Dunn, Project Manager.

Overall, this project is a great showcase of the AliDeck range of aluminium decking and the fantastic work that our customers and installers are able to achieve using the material. It’s a great outcome for all stakeholders and we have heard reports that the residents were very happy with the results. They can now look forward to a fire safe environment in which to enjoy their outdoor living activities as they take in the beautiful surrounding scenery of the Poole Harbour.

If you have an upcoming project that you would like to discuss further with us to see how aluminium decking can help you achieve project success, please contact us on 01622 235 672 or send us an email on info@alideck.co.uk.