Grade II Structure Restored to Former Glory

Newman Building Solutions have recently completed a structural masonry reinforcement project on a grade II listed building on the outskirts of London. The combination of their expert knowledge and Twistfix products ensured that the project was a complete success, restoring Mymms Hall to its full former glory.

Mymms hall is located in north London and dates back to the 16th century. Over the years, many additions have been made to the main structure, including an annexe which was built in the late Victorian era. The main structure, along with these later additions, had fallen into a state of disrepair and full refurbishment became necessary.

Newman Building Solutions specialise in this kind of remedial work and so the company was contacted in the initial stages of the planned refurbishment. They were asked to create a feasible repair and restoration scheme that combined a modern approach with sympathetic techniques suitable for such delicate work.

The first stage involved carrying out extensive soil investigations, which showed that the building foundations were inadequate; this is a common issue with buildings of such an age. Structural engineers agreed that an underpinning or piling scheme would cause too much disruption and possible damage and so a superstructure reinforcement scheme would be preferable.

Almost every lintel throughout the building had failed, leading to stepped diagonal cracking and separation; the cause of the lintel failure was found to be excessive ground movement along with increased loads. Pointing faults had been aggravated by root ingress from ivy, adding to the overall instability of the structure.

Engineers at Newman Building Solutions designed a scheme that utilised more than half a kilometre of Twistfix helical bars as retrofit bed joint reinforcement. This was used to create helibeams within the damaged masonry, increasing the load bearing capacity of the brickwork by distributing structural loads right across the building facades. As repointing was to be carried out with lime putty to match the original materials, grout or resin could not be used; this would create hard spots that would lead to further movement and cracking.

The project is now complete and will ensure that this beautiful building can carry on standing proud for many more years to come. Twistfix are proud that our masonry repair products have been used to preserve and strengthen this historic building.

All the information about our reinforcement products is available on the website so browse now and find the perfect combination for your project.