A SCHOOL is looking to replace rotting wooded frames with new cladding as part of a project to improve a building on site.

Colchester Sixth Form College is looking to improve the cladding of its performing arts block, after it was deemed “dilapidated” and “no longer repairable or maintainable”.

It comes after the college was successful in receiving funding for the window and curtain walling replacement project last year.

Planning permission was also granted for the new window system.

Whilst undertaking the removal of the windows, plans say it became evident the structural integrity of the existing timber frame and external envelope was “rotting in places” and at “significant risk of structural failure”.

The timber external envelope is constructed using softwood.

Due to it not being waterproof, water has continually seeped into the frame behind the softwood cladding.

There is also no insulation or thermal properties of the existing cladding meaning the building suffers from “extreme” heat loss in the winter and extreme overheating in the summer months.

“It is essential the cladding is replaced with new to maintain the weather tightness to the building and prevent further water ingress into the structural frame”, they said.

Colchester Council will now rule on the plans.