The Development
Grade II* listed mill conversion containing a mix of residential apartments and commercial units. Originally built in 1797 as a cotton mill, Royal Mills represented a jewel in the crown of Manchester’s industrial district – a conservation area that has been considered for World Heritage Site status. Overlooking the Rochdale canal, the historic building had been renovated in 2006 but had suffered from serious roof problems since then.
Appointed in 2013 Zenith immediately began working closely with the Landlord and Residents to address this longstanding issue.
The Issues
- Funding a roof replacement which would cost several hundred thousand pound
- Ensuring a viable solution that would protect and enhance a Grade II* building
- Arranging access to the building which ran alongside the Rochdale canal
- Communicating with Residents to ensure their ‘buy-in’ to the project
The Approach
It was clear that for the project to succeed we would need to carefully manage the expectations of differing stakeholders, including the Conservation Officer, the Local Authority, the Landlord and Residents.
We set about a comprehensive review of the works and regularly met with all interested parties to provide progress reports.
After fully investigating various options available, we recommended that the issue could best be resolved through the building’s current warranty. Whilst the works would still need to be managed on site this would at least ensure that costs were not met by the Leaseholders.
The Outcome
After several months of negotiations, we were able to agree that the full cost of the works would be met by the Warranty Provider.
We proceeded to work closely with the appointed contractors to carry out a full replacement of all roof tiles and lead flashings, ensuring always that the residents were kept updated at every step of the project.
The final outcome, a brand-new roof at no cost to the Leaseholders with all works carried out on time and fully compliant with Conservation requirements.
