Council says road closed by cladding problems at McAlpine hotel to be shut for rest of month ‘at least’

Sir Robert McAlpine has said it expects a town centre road closed for more than four weeks in Woking because of loose panels on a nearby hotel to remain shut for the rest of this month.

The firm has built a 23-storey Hilton Hotel in the Surrey town, part of a wider development known as Victoria Square, but which has been plagued by problem cladding panels.

The latest incident occurred in January, in the wake of Storms Eowyn and Herminia arriving within 48 hours of each other, meaning the A320 below, called Victoria Way, has been closed since.

In an update on its website, Woking’s leader Ann-Marie Barker said: “Sir Robert McAlpine has completed works to secure the panels identified to be at a greater risk of detachment and preparatory works have begun on the remaining cladding panels in a phased and prioritised approach.

“Despite this progress, SRM expects Victoria Way to remain closed until at least the end of March which is disappointing news and extremely frustrating for all.”

She added: “Work continues to develop a long-term solution and this has been aided by exterior cladding specialists who are conducting detailed investigations to determine the cause of the detachment. It is imperative that the reasons for the failure of the cladding system are fully understood in order to design a permanent solution.”

McAlpine has previously said: “We have commissioned a bespoke wind model of the entire building and its surroundings which will go beyond the standards, allowing us to understand the microclimate of the area and permitting finite analysis of the loads the cladding has been originally designed to accommodate.

“Once again, we apologise for any inconvenience caused by the closure of Victoria Way. We fully understand the effect that this is having on Woking and empathise with the frustration felt by the residents and local businesses.”

The panels were designed and installed by Prater which has been contacted for comment.

The council is due to hold a Environment and Place Scrutiny committee scrutiny meeting tonight (4 March) at which the issue will be discussed with McAlpine sending a representative.