PLANS to clad an iconic town centre building have been halted in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.

In the days following the tragedy, which has so far claimed the lives of 79 people with the death toll expected to rise, attention turned to the material covering the Kensington high rise block’s exterior.

The aluminium-composite panels used had a flammable plastic polyethylene core and have been identified as a reason for the fire’s quick and relentless climb up the 24-storey tower.

Later on the same day that the fire first broke out, the development company behind the re-building of Bracknell’s iconic 3M tower halted a contract for cladding.

With the eyesore demolished in 2015, a 19-storey, £50m block is due to stand in its place, housing 311 people and to be decked in cladding.

Although the material approved for use is different from that on Grenfell Tower, fire is mentioned nowhere on the facade plan.

Bracknell News:

The 3M building during demolition

Following the approval the specification of the materials was changed, but it is not clear what kind of cladding was eventually chosen.

Robert Sheppard, engineer at the development company behind the build, said: “Comer Group has of course been greatly saddened by the immense tragedy which occurred at Grenfell.

“The directors felt it incumbent upon them to act immediately to preclude any undue risk being incorporated into our own construction.

“On Wednesday June 14, the prospective façade contract was halted.

“It is noted specifically that the proposals for Bracknell were of a different fire-retardant specification (mineral core).

“We have now returned the matter of façade design and construction methods to our consultants and asked for a rigorous re-assessment of the best information and knowledge base to assist in planning this and other developments.”

BFC has confirmed that none of the flats it manages have been clad with material the same as the aluminium composite that decked Grenfell Tower.

A Comprehensive Fire Risk Assessment was carried out on all flats above shops in 2011, leading to no significant alterations.

External work due to be done to flats above Harmans Water shops this summer will not use the same or similar aluminium cladding and will adhere to British standards for fire safety.