Bournemouth uni’s International College has Grenfell-style flammable cladding

One of Bournemouth university’s halls complexes has flammable cladding similar to that used in Grenfell Tower, a Tab investigation has revealed.

International College supplies accommodation for 392 students, and is one of five potentially dangerous student accommodation buildings in the country.

Found nearby to The Old Firestation, the halls has cladding like that on Grenfell Tower, where a fire claimed the lives of at least 79 residents only weeks ago.

Image: Bournemouth University

The cladding was confirmed to be similar to Grenfell’s during a visit of the site – which has only been around for two years – on Tuesday.

A Bournemouth University spokesman has said that they are “working with partners and completing checks on all our buildings, specifically looking at cladding.”

International College stands out amongst its surroundings, with 16 floors housing students, teaching facilities and a cafe.

BU boasts of the building on its website, labelling it as “the highest point in Dorset”.

The building was opened in October 2015, in collaboration with Bournemouth University and Kaplan, an international school for learning English.

A Kaplan spokesman has confirmed that the cladding is similar to Grenfell and covers approximately five per cent of the building, but they do not believe any risks are posed.

The installation is different in the building, including having fire breaks, and has been verified as safe in the past independently.

All of this was confirmed again in another safety check last week.

This isn’t the first time the building has run into problems. In January 2016 the cladding was looked at after panels had fallen off the sides of the building. However the two incidents are unrelated.

Cladding samples have been sent away for testing, and Kaplan is working alongside local authorities and fire services who have also held a site visit.

Featured Image by Bournemouth University