Victoria Square apartments in Belfast had columns built with 'low strength concrete' claims report commissioned by residents

A report on the ill-fated Victoria Square apartments in Belfast alleged that supporting columns in the complex were made using "low strength concrete" containing too much water and/or too little cement.
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By Philip Bradfield
Published 28th Mar 2024, 13:05 BST

Residents of the 91 apartments were evacuated in 2019 after a key support column in the complex was found to be breaking down.

Residents took the builders and architects to the High Court for compensation earlier this month.

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However the case was thrown out as it had passed the six year statutory time limit.

A key support column in the Victoria Squares apartment complex began to fail in 2019 causing residents to be evacuated. Pictured to the left are steel girder reinforcements for the column, which can be seen under the apartments in the public car parking area.A key support column in the Victoria Squares apartment complex began to fail in 2019 causing residents to be evacuated. Pictured to the left are steel girder reinforcements for the column, which can be seen under the apartments in the public car parking area.
A key support column in the Victoria Squares apartment complex began to fail in 2019 causing residents to be evacuated. Pictured to the left are steel girder reinforcements for the column, which can be seen under the apartments in the public car parking area.

The companies who built the complex - Farrans Construction, Gilbert & Ash and architects Building Design Partnership (BDP) all strongly deny any liability.

Residents are now considering an appeal

In 2019 the residents commissioned a report by engineering and architecture firm William J Marshall and Partners in conjunction with the testing and consultancy company Sandberg LLP.

The report claims that the column in question - designated E2 - failed on or about 1 February 2019.

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The report said it "burst with splinters of concrete, plaster and reinforcement from within the section being displaced outwards".

It added that "a serious and substantial structural failure" of column E2 caused cracks in nearby flats.

The report also claimed that construction of the column's reinforcement "does not comply" with drawings.

It added: "There is high water content and/or low cement content in the concrete; The columns were constructed using low strength concrete."

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In addition, it claimed that there was "a defective repair in the column face which substantially weakens the column".

In conclusion, the report claimed that the cause of the problem due to "failures in relation to the design load capacity of Column E2 and... workmanship failures, associated with low strength concrete, errors in reinforcement placing and the removal of concrete in part of the [column] section" which it said was replaced with "a plaster filled repair".

The accuracy of the claims were not tested in court.

However the News Letter invited the builders and architect to respond.

Gilbert Ash responded that it had no involvement in constructing any of the structural columns.

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“Gilbert-Ash carried out only internal fit-out works at the Residential Development," it told the News Letter. "This included internal finishes, joinery, supply and installation of bathroom suites and kitchens as well as electrical and mechanical work for the apartments. It did not include any structural work, including the construction of structural columns or the supply of concrete for those columns.”

Builders Farrans and architects Building Design Partnership (BDP) declined to comment.