A south London skyscraper built by collapsed contractor Henry needs “extensive” remediation work to fix a leaking roof, only two years after completion.
Henry Construction completed The Fold, a 35-storey residential tower in Croydon, in July 2022, a year before it collapsed into administration. The building contains 251 flats and forms part of the wider Queen’s Quarter development.
Building managers have now scheduled remediation work after residents reported a “major” leak from the tower’s roof, reports Construction News’ sister title, The Architects’ Journal (AJ).
Residents had suffered from water ingress for months, which later caused damp and mould, according to management company Urban Bubble.
Urban Bubble told AJ it was working closely with specialist contractors and insurers to resolve the root cause of the issue, and that initial surveys and mitigation work had already taken place.
Building owner Legal & General said issues with build quality were identified after Henry went out of business. The firm said it had intervened, carrying out a “multiple-day investigation” into the leak, and is taking “every action possible” to resolve defects quickly.
The spokesperson added: “As owner of the property, we are deeply concerned that our residents have been affected by these issues.”
The firm that managed the development, HUB, said it worked with Legal & General throughout construction and all parties were satisfied with building quality upon completion in July 2022, at which point it handed over building management to Urban Bubble.
Three other towers within the Queen’s Quarter scheme, also built by Henry, have not experienced similar issues, AJ understands.
When Henry went into administration in June 2023, several subcontractors told CN that they had not been paid for months. The firm had been hit with nine winding-up petitions – a last-resort measure used to claim back money owed – within its final year of operation.
The firm started off as a small-scale civils and concrete frame specialist in 2010, before specialising in tall buildings in London. It grew rapidly from a £50m turnover in 2015 to £402.2m in its final full financial year.
By Gino Spocchia
