Brighton and Hove Albion, which recently won promotion to the English Premier League top-tier club football competition, has launched an investigation into the use of cladding on its Amex Stadium home, after it emerged that it was made by the same company that manufactured materials used on Grenfell Tower.
Earlier this month, a huge fire at Grenfell Tower in London left many people dead and hundreds more homeless. Although investigations are ongoing, it is believed that a cladding material applied to the outside of the tower block by Reynobond led to the fast spread of the fire.
Reynobond aluminium composite material (ACM) was used on the Amex Stadium, which opened in July 2011.
Brighton director Martin Perry told the Argus newspaper that he is confident the materials used in construction of the stadium are of the “highest” standards” and does not present any dangers to fans.
“We are fully satisfied that the American Express Community Stadium is entirely safe and that the materials and building practices used during the construction of the stadium, and our training ground, are of the highest standards,” Perry said.
“In common with many hundreds of thousands of buildings across the country, part of our stadium does have a cladding system.
“It was inspected regularly while it was being constructed by both building control inspectors from the local authority and by our building contractor. Both signed it off as being installed entirely correctly and conforming fully to fire safety regulations.”
In order to allay fears over the use of cladding, Perry said the club has launched an investigation to ensure the materials are safe.
“However, following the terrible events at Grenfell Tower, we are now taking the added precaution of working with our contractor and suppliers to re-check all of the materials used during construction, both at the Amex and at our training ground,” Perry said.
“This work involves checking paperwork dating back eight years in the case of the stadium, and four years for the training ground, and will be completed as quickly as possible.”
Image: Barbara van Cleve
