Scaffolding to come down at Grand Hotel

THE scaffolding is finally to come down at the Grand Hotel in central Birmingham as owner and developer Hortons’ Estate completes the first phase of restoration works.

The Colmore Row building has been restored at a cost of £4.1m.
 
Over the next two months the wraps will be taken off the ornate stone and marble façades of the building overlooking St Philip’s cathedral and Church Street, fully exposing them for the first time since 2003, when the building was shrouded following a fall of masonry.
 
The restoration has included stripping back thousands of stones by hand. Over the years, layers of cementitious render and paint were applied to the stonework to mask its decay. Each stone had to be individually examined to assess whether it could be repaired or totally replaced.
 
In addition, all 180 windows have been removed, repaired by skilled carpenters and re-installed. To help protect the façade from rainwater damage new flashing has been introduced and downpipes have been increased in size by 50%.
 
Tony Green, chief executive of Hortons’ Estate, said: “In 2011 experts told us that the original stonework was of low durability and the facades of the building were beyond repair and would need to be demolished.
 
“However, Hortons’ and its professional team found a solution. It is testament to the determination and skill of the craftsmen involved – in particular the stonemasons – that the facades have not only been saved but their appearance is as it would have been when the building was first erected in the late 1800s.
 
“A decorative sandstone band running the length of the building and marble pilasters on the outside of the ground floor windows along Church Street are among the many original features that have been newly unmasked by the restoration works.”
 
Historic England, formerly known as English Heritage, has contributed £200,000 to the project.
 
Aldridge-based Midland Conservation supplied 40 highly masons who used traditional tools and techniques to conserve and replicate the building’s decorative carved stone over a period of two-and-a-half years.

Cost consultants PMP and architects Berman Guedes Stretton advised Hortons’ Estate on the project. Arup Façade Engineering provided advice on stone conservation and architectural design.
 
Further phases of restoration at The Grand are now under way. 
 
A new roof and re-furbished shops and offices on Colmore Row, together with the restoration works to the Barwick Street façade, will be complete by the end of the year. The combined cost of these works is £6m.
 
A further phase of works, to the Church Street interior, is currently out to tender and Hortons’ Estate aims to start that this year with completion next autumn.

The firm said it hopes to announce some retail and office lettings soon.
 

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