Politicians have slammed Sir Robert McAlpine after it had to close a major road to fix hotel cladding, less than two weeks after it reopened following previous remediation.
Loose cladding on the Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre in Woking, Surrey, has caused repeated closures of the town centre’s A320 Victoria Way since late 2021.
On Sunday (26 January) a panel came loose on the building. The firm confirmed the road will be closed “for a number of weeks” while the issue is fixed.
Woking Council leader Ann-Marie Barker said: “I’m very angry that another panel has failed on the hotel building despite assurances from [Sir Robert McAlpine] earlier this month that the panels were now safe and secure.”
Local MP Will Forster has publicly asked the company to pay compensation to businesses and residents affected by the road closure.
A McAlpine spokesperson said: “In the aftermath of Storm Herminia on Sunday, which followed immediately after the powerful Storm Eowyn on Friday, one cladding panel was found to be loose on the western elevation of the hotel building.
“In order to ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians, Victoria Way will need to remain closed until the exterior panel is fixed and further checks have been completed to a number of panels across the building. This will be carried out as soon as the wind speeds are within the safe working limits.”
Panels first dislodged from the 23-storey building in October 2021 while it was under construction.
Eight weeks later, McAlpine said around 2,000 of the building’s 4,000 external panels needed extra fixings and that the building would be completed by January 2022, while permanent remediation of the cladding was “under review”.
In July 2023 it announced cladding replacement works, by subcontractor Prater, would be complete by summer 2024. At the time, Barker described this as an “unacceptably long delay”.
The hotel opened in autumn 2024, but in November 2024, high winds caused a “small amount of visible movement” to a panel, causing a temporary closure of Victoria Way, though the hotel remained open.
The following month Storm Darragh was blamed for damaging a number of exterior rainscreen panels, with Victoria Way once again closed while work was carried out.
The road reopened on 15 January but had to close again 11 days later.
In an open letter to McAlpine chief executive Neil Martin, Forster said: “I am writing to express my deep anger, disappointment, and frustration regarding the repeated issues […].
“I urge you and the rest of the board at Sir Robert McAlpine to take full responsibility for this situation, including […] addressing the consequences on local businesses caused by these closures.”
He asked for the contractor to pay compensation to the businesses, to obtain an independent assessment of the safety of the cladding panels at its own expense, and to offer contractual assurances about the future of the site.
Construction News has approached Sir Robert McAlpine about Forster’s requests.
In a statement on the latest closure, a McAlpine spokesperson said: “We apologise for the disruption that the closure of Victoria Way is causing. The hotel and the rest of Victoria Place remain open for business as usual during this period.”
The hotel was part of a wider development called Victoria Square, which was initially worth more than £670m and also includes 400 build-to-rent flats over two towers and 11,600 square metres of commercial space.
A joint venture between Woking Council and shopping centre owner and investor Moyallen Group called Victoria Square Woking was the client on the project.
According to Companies House, Moyallen Holdings ceased having significant control of the development company in April 2024. The project’s costs were a factor in the council issuing a section 114 notice in 2023 to halt non-essential spending as it had accumulated debts of more than £2bn.
