Coin House

Coin House, 2 Gees Court, London

The original works at Coin House were external cleaning, repairs and decoration. During the course of these works, structural investigations were carried out to the rusting steel frame and it was discovered that the building was suffering from what is commonly known as ‘Regents Street disease’.  The expansion of the steelwork had caused the external faience cladding to fracture and fail in several high pedestrian locations.

The steel beams supporting the parapet wall were so badly corroded that the parapet had lifted by several millimeters.

Specialist contractor, Triton Building Restoration, called us in to view the extent of the problem and with the engineer we decided to dismantle the whole parapet wall down to top floor window head level, salvaging the original material where possible.

Once the steel was exposed, a needle gun was used to remove loose material back to solid metal.  New steel sections were added, all coated with jenolite, two coats of red oxide primer and two coats of bitumastic paint before the new faience was installed, with an air gap left around the steel to ensure any future movement would not be detrimental to the faience.

The removal of a large section of the decorative cornice posed a complex issue in regard to fixing new material back to the steel frame, however working as a team we worked closely with both contractor and engineer to solve the new design.