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Architect under fire over latest Bath Spa debacle
16:52 03 Nov 2004
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Bath & North East Somerset (BANES) Council is considering legal action against architect Nicholas Grimshaw after it described the company’s progress in resolving problems at its £36m Bath Spa project as “extremely disappointing”.
It has been more than a month since a fault was found in the waterproof flooring of the spa’s steam rooms, which caused serious leaks into adjoining rooms.
Grimshaw has denied responsibility for the problems, blaming the fault on the construction element of the project.
Mowlem blamed the problem on the design.
Despite the tit-for-tat between the project team, Banes instructed Grimshaw to put in place plans for tackling the problem “without delay” back in September.
However, the stalemate means that no apparent progress has been made despite a series of high-profile meetings between Banes, Mowlem and Grimshaw, adding to the current two-and-a-half-year delay to the project caused by the flaking of paint on the spa’s four pools.
The repainting of the pools by Dutch subcontractor Bovitec is now nearing completion, although Banes’ patience on the steam room leaks appears to be wearing thin.
“We are very unhappy at the lack of progress being made by the architect,” said a Banes official. “We would have expected an answer by now. The longer the wait goes on, the more this project makes the headlines for the wrong reasons and the more costs increase.”
The official was also unable to rule out some form of legal action to put the pressure on Grimshaw to come up with some solutions in the next few weeks.
A Banes spokeswoman confirmed that “no solution” had been provided by Grimshaw and added that neither a timetable, nor the calculated costs of the new set of repairs, had been determined.
Sources are currently putting the final value of the scheme near £50m against an estimate of £12m at its outset.
Grimshaw refused to comment on either the delays to finding a solution to the leak problem, or the possible threat of legal action.
Mowlem told CJ that it was still waiting for instructions from the architect before any works could be carried out.
It has been more than a month since a fault was found in the waterproof flooring of the spa’s steam rooms, which caused serious leaks into adjoining rooms.
Grimshaw has denied responsibility for the problems, blaming the fault on the construction element of the project.
Mowlem blamed the problem on the design.
Despite the tit-for-tat between the project team, Banes instructed Grimshaw to put in place plans for tackling the problem “without delay” back in September.
However, the stalemate means that no apparent progress has been made despite a series of high-profile meetings between Banes, Mowlem and Grimshaw, adding to the current two-and-a-half-year delay to the project caused by the flaking of paint on the spa’s four pools.
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The repainting of the pools by Dutch subcontractor Bovitec is now nearing completion, although Banes’ patience on the steam room leaks appears to be wearing thin.
“We are very unhappy at the lack of progress being made by the architect,” said a Banes official. “We would have expected an answer by now. The longer the wait goes on, the more this project makes the headlines for the wrong reasons and the more costs increase.”
The official was also unable to rule out some form of legal action to put the pressure on Grimshaw to come up with some solutions in the next few weeks.
A Banes spokeswoman confirmed that “no solution” had been provided by Grimshaw and added that neither a timetable, nor the calculated costs of the new set of repairs, had been determined.
Sources are currently putting the final value of the scheme near £50m against an estimate of £12m at its outset.
Grimshaw refused to comment on either the delays to finding a solution to the leak problem, or the possible threat of legal action.
Mowlem told CJ that it was still waiting for instructions from the architect before any works could be carried out.
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