Brunel was one of the fastest growing and most prestigious technical colleges of the post-war period and a flagship of the newly created Robbins universities; its early date, new location and generous funding allowed for an ambitious initial scheme. The ‘Lecture Centre’ at Brunel University is a Grade II listed property (as of June 2011) and is situated within the grounds of the university in Uxbridge, Middlesex. This prominent building on the university campus was constructed in the 1960’s and is typical of many concrete framed buildings of this period. The lecture theatre block achieved early notoriety as a location in the film A Clockwork Orange.
After close on 50 years, areas on the concrete structure with low cover, or sub-standard concrete started to show signs of ‘spalling’, and it was decided that the entire building needed to be cleaned, the areas of spalling repaired and a protective coating applied.
CRL tendered for, and were awarded the contract in May 2014. The works took place during the university summer break, although parts of the building were still in use for their annual ‘summer school’.
In conjunction with the Conservation Officer it was agreed that the repairs could be carried in 2 stages; the first being the filling of the areas where concrete had been broken out to a depth of 10mm from the finished level with a proprietary SIKA repair mortar. The second stage entailed the filling of the last 10mm with a Remmers (colour matched) repair mortar.
Once the repair materials had cured sufficiently, all the concrete surfaces were coated with a clear anti-carbonation coating.
