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Upward view of The Adelphi, a Portland stone Art Deco building in London, showing carved relief panels, sculptural figures, and rows of windows rising against a blue sky with scattered clouds. A large white cherry-picker access platform with an extended articulated boom is positioned close to the upper floors, being used to carry out façade restoration and inspection work on the historic building's exterior stonework. central london facade cleaning

The Adelphi

London, WC2N 6HT – June 2010

Styles Façade Solutions® (formerly Thomann-Hanry®) has delivered Central London facade cleaning and restoration to The Adelphi, a Grade II listed building, since 2009, beginning with a 6,675m² Portland stone clean using our scaffold-free Façade Gommage process, which avoids the damage risked by high-pressure blasting or harsh chemicals.

Impressed with the results, owners P&O Estates commissioned further cleans in 2010 and 2018, alongside surveys, conservation, repair works and ongoing maintenance, including concrete repairs to corroded steelwork and balcony remediation.

This long-standing relationship, spanning surveying, cleaning and repair, stands as a powerful endorsement of Styles Façade Solutions®’ enduring expertise with heritage buildings.

Solutions provided

Facade Cleaning Façade Surveys Façade Repairs & Restoration Stone Masonry Metal Restoration Façade Painting
Styles Façade Solutions® undertakes extensive cleaning and restoration of The Adelphi's striking Art Deco stonework in London.
Styles Façade Solutions® undertakes extensive cleaning and restoration of The Adelphi's striking Art Deco stonework in London.

AN ART-DECO DREAM BY THE RIVER THAMES

Construction of The Adelphi required an act of Parliament (the Adelphi Act of 1933) to permit the demolition of 24 Georgian houses built in the 1770s by the original developers of the area, the Adams brothers (“Adelphoi” is Greek for brothers). The demolition of the properties was highly controversial and became a focal point for the nascent preservation movement in the UK.

By 1936, construction of the Colcutt & Hamp-designed Art Deco-inspired office building started. Featuring an eight-storey Portland stone façade on the riverside and Portland stone and brick elevations on all other sides, this behemoth was officially opened by 1938.

The building boasts an impressive range of integrated sculptures from key artists of the era, including: Dawn by Bainbridge Copnall, Contemplation by Arthur J Ayres, Inspiration by Gilbert Ledward, Night by Donald Gilbert, and additional works by Newbury Abbot Trent. In the early 1990s, two additional floors were added in keeping with the original Art Deco style. By 2009, the site had been awarded Grade II listed status in recognition of its outstanding styling, dramatic composition, and impressive integral sculpture scheme.

Distant view of The Adelphi, London, a Grade II listed Art Deco building, with a truck-mounted specialist cleaning cabin extending high up the tall stone façade during work by Styles Façade Solutions®. The vertical fluted piers and rows of dark-framed windows are partially visible above a dense line of mature green trees. Two ornate lampposts stand in the foreground park below an overcast sky.

Styles Façade Solutions® reaches the upper floors of The Adelphi using a truck-mounted specialist cleaning cabin, working high above the treeline. This distant view highlights the impressive scale of the building's Art Deco façade and the specialist access required to clean this Grade II listed London landmark.

SCAFFOLD-FREE PRESERVATION FOR SENSITIVE HERITAGE MASONRY

Styles Façade Solutions® has been instructed to provide commercial façade cleaning, survey and restoration services for this iconic Grade II listed building on numerous occasions over the years. Our first project took place in 2009 to clean a 6675m2 elevation of Portland stone. One of the key benefits of using the Façade Gommage cleaning process for buildings such as The Adelphi is that there is no need to erect unsightly, time-consuming, and costly scaffolding. All works are carried out from a self-contained cleaning cabin, which is either attached to a truck mounted hydraulic boom or, for those buildings over 40m, suspended directly from the building's own building maintenance unit (BMU) system.

The Façade Gommage cleaning process uses powdered Aluminium silicate, which is gently blown over the surface of the façade at under 4 bar pressure to erase surface dirt and grime without damaging the façade of the building. The cabin acts as a giant vacuum and sucks the used powder back inside where it is captured in a closed-loop water curtain. The solids are then filtered out of the water and removed from the site at the end of each day to be recycled into road and building aggregate.

This process is ideally suited for heritage buildings such as The Adelphi, where traditional processes such as high-pressure aggregate or water blasting, or harsh chemical and solvent treatments risk scarring and damaging the façade's surface.

Styles Façade Solutions® delivers a bright, restored stone entrance at The Adelphi, showcasing the gold lettering and carved detailing against pale Portland stone. This finished view highlights the crisp architectural finish achieved across the building's main entrance, completing the extensive cleaning and restoration project.
Styles Façade Solutions® delivers a bright, restored stone entrance at The Adelphi, showcasing the gold lettering and carved detailing against pale Portland stone. This finished view highlights the crisp architectural finish achieved across the building's main entrance, completing the extensive cleaning and restoration project.

A DECADE OF CONTINUOUS CONSERVATION AND MAINTENANCE

Delighted with the results of the initial Central London facade cleaning, the building's owners, P&O Estates, invited Styles Façade Solutions back to work on the south elevation in 2010, followed by a full clean of the east elevation in 2018.

Throughout our long-standing relationship, Styles Façade Solutions® has been retained for building surveys, conservation & repair works and ongoing façade cleaning programmes to help maintain this key heritage building. These have included a large programme of concrete repair to corroded steelwork in the balconies on the north elevation, replacement of fractured blocks in the south elevation, again due to corroded steel, and further remedial work on balconies and steelwork in earlyly 2020.

There can be no stronger endorsement of the results delivered by a company than an invitation to return to the same building to tackle new challenges. As such, The Adelphi Building is a powerful testament to the enduring benefits of working with Styles Façade Solutions®.

See the links below for more examples of the results Styles Façade Solutions® can deliver for your business.

Call our team TODAY on +44 (0) 20 8453 1494, alternatively use the contact us form for a FREE project quote or for more information on how Styles Façade Solutions® (formerly Thomann-Hanry®) can help your commercial or heritage property.

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