For many people living in buildings undergoing remediation, that simply isn't possible.
This week on Cladding Matters, Join Gareth Wax, Steve Day and Hamish McLay as we discuss what life is really like for residents when scaffolding and protective shrouding surround their homes during one of the hottest periods of the year.
Building safety is rightly a national priority. Nobody disputes that dangerous defects need to be addressed. The challenge is ensuring that, whilst buildings are being made safer, the people living inside them are not forgotten.
At Royal Artillery Quays, hundreds of residents are currently living with the reality of a major remediation programme. The scaffolding is in place. Protective sheeting surrounds parts of the buildings. Construction work has become part of everyday life.
Then comes a heatwave.
Windows that residents would normally open to let cooler air circulate become far less effective. Fresh air is restricted. Homes can become increasingly warm, leaving many people feeling trapped inside their own properties.
That discomfort is only one part of the story.
Many residents have now spent years living with uncertainty. They have experienced concerns about fire safety, insurance, property values and lengthy delays. For some, there have also been ongoing disputes with the Royal Borough of Greenwich over issues they believe remain unresolved.
When those pressures already exist, adding extreme heat and the feeling of living behind a curtain of scaffolding can become another significant strain on mental wellbeing.
This is the side of remediation that is rarely discussed.
Construction programmes are often measured by budgets, milestones and completion dates. Residents tend to measure them differently.
How many summers have been disrupted?
How many nights have been spent struggling to sleep?
How many months have people felt that their home no longer feels like home?
These are not questions that appear in project plans, yet they matter enormously to the people living through them.
Royal Artillery Quays is not alone. Across the country, thousands of residents are living through lengthy remediation projects. Many have accepted that the work needs to happen. What they ask for is something equally important: communication, transparency, empathy and recognition that this is more than a construction project.
It is people's daily lives.
Mental health is often spoken about in relation to major life events. Living for months, and sometimes years, inside what feels like a building site can have a cumulative effect that should never be underestimated.
The conversation around building safety has evolved considerably since Grenfell. We now understand far more about defective construction, regulation and accountability. Perhaps it is also time to give greater attention to the experience of those who continue to live inside these buildings while the solutions are being delivered.
Making buildings safer should never come at the expense of the wellbeing of the people who call them home.
This Friday, we'll be asking whether enough thought is being given to residents during remediation, what more could be done to reduce the impact, and whether projects should place far greater emphasis on the human experience alongside the engineering.
We hope you'll join the conversation.
Watch live on Friday at 1pm:
https://www.youtube.com/@SpillingTheProper-Tea
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