Places · South East · Berkshire
Façade & building consultants in Reading.
Reading grew from a royal abbey into a railway, biscuit and brewing town, and is now the Thames Valley's business capital, with towers rising around its rebuilt station. McKay Turner Consulting provides façade condition surveys, defect and water ingress investigations, external wall fire risk appraisals, design reviews and expert witness work across Reading.
READING 51.45° N, 0.97° W
A short history
An abbey town that became the Thames Valley hub
Reading's abbey made it rich in the Middle Ages. Rivers, canals and the railway then made it a manufacturing town, and offices followed the M4.
- 1121
Reading Abbey
Henry I founds the abbey, one of the richest in England, and is buried there.
- 1723
Kennet Navigation
The River Kennet is made navigable to Newbury, boosting trade.
- 1840
Railway
The Great Western Railway reaches Reading.
- 1841
Biscuit town
Huntley & Palmers grows into the world's largest biscuit maker.
- 1844
Reading Gaol
The county gaol opens, later made famous by Oscar Wilde.
- 1999
The Oracle
A riverside shopping centre opens on the old ironworks site.
- 2015
New station
The rebuilt Reading station is completed.
- 2026
Station Hill
Offices open and a further 598 flats are approved next to the station.
Architecture
What makes Reading's buildings distinctive
Reading's Victorian builders loved patterned brick, with red bricks set against grey and blue ones. Around them are flint ruins, stucco and a new skyline of glass and cladding.
Key styles
Medieval
The flint-walled ruins of Reading Abbey and the parish churches.
Georgian
Brick and stucco town houses on Castle Street and London Street.
Victorian
Patterned red and grey brick, Waterhouse's Town Hall and terraced streets.
Post-war offices
Concrete and curtain-walled office blocks in the centre.
Business parks
Glazed offices along the M4 and the Kennet.
Towers
Office and residential towers around the station.
Reading's material palette
Did you know?
Many Victorian buildings in Reading use red and blue-grey bricks laid in diamond and band patterns.
Huntley & Palmers was once the world's largest biscuit maker, and Reading became known as the biscuit town.
In November 2023 a fire broke out in a 16-storey building under construction at Station Hill. A crane operator rescued a trapped worker.
Typical building types
What Reading is built of today
Reading combines a Victorian town of terraced streets with one of the largest office markets outside London and a growing number of residential towers.
Offices
From post-war blocks to new towers and business parks.
Where: Station Hill, Forbury, Green Park
Apartments & towers
New residential and build-to-rent towers.
Where: Station Hill, Kennet, Vastern Road
Victorian terraces
Patterned brick terraces.
Where: Newtown, Katesgrove, Oxford Road
Student accommodation
Blocks for the University of Reading.
Where: Whiteknights, town centre
Retail & leisure
Shopping centres and leisure buildings.
Where: The Oracle, Broad Street
Data centres & tech
Data halls and technology offices.
Where: Green Park, Thames Valley Park
Healthcare & public
Hospital, civic and school buildings.
Where: Royal Berkshire Hospital
Heritage
Medieval, Georgian and Victorian listed buildings.
Where: Abbey Quarter, Market Place
Current construction trends
Where Reading is building now
The redevelopment of Station Hill is the biggest project in the town centre, alongside new homes along the rivers.
ONE Station Hill
A new office building, with its first tenants moving in during 2025.
Station Hill square
New step-free squares and streets linking the station to Friar Street.
Station Hill phase 3
Two apartment buildings to replace Xafinity House, approved in August 2026.
Station Hill
Lincoln MGT's mixed-use redevelopment of the area next to the station.
Higher-risk buildings
Residential buildings of 18m or seven storeys and above, with at least two homes, must be registered with the Building Safety Regulator and have a safety case that covers their external walls.
Cladding Safety Scheme
Government funding for unsafe cladding on residential buildings over 11m in England. Every application starts with a PAS 9980 fire risk appraisal of the external walls.
How we help in Reading
Every era of building has its own risks
We match our inspections and advice to the age and construction of your building.
Medieval and Georgianto c.1840
Weathered flint and brick, cracked stucco and decayed timber.
Victorian and Edwardianc.1840–1914
Spalling brick and terracotta, failed pointing and leaking roofs.
Post-war and 1980s–90s officesc.1960–2000
Failing curtain-wall seals and gaskets, and old cladding.
Apartments and towersc.2000–today
Combustible cladding or insulation, missing cavity barriers and leaking balconies.
New buildtoday
Design and specification gaps, and workmanship on tall façades.
Watermans Reach, Oxford: a three-day intrusive survey from a boom lift across three waterside blocks, for a PAS 9980 appraisal of the external walls and timber balconies.
Read the Watermans Reach case study →FAQs
Façade services in Reading
Do you work in Reading?
Yes. We work across the UK from our base in the North West, including in Reading. A Director-level consultant leads every instruction from the first conversation to the final report.
Can you assess the external walls of residential buildings in Reading?
Yes. Our intrusive investigations confirm how the cladding, insulation and cavity barriers are actually built. We then assess the fire risk using PAS 9980, which is also the starting point for Cladding Safety Scheme applications.
Can you survey office curtain walling?
Yes. We inspect curtain walls, glazing and cladding close up, trace leaks to their source and give owners prioritised repairs, budgets and maintenance plans.
Which other services do you offer in Reading?
Façade condition surveys, defect and leak investigations, thermographic surveys, technical due diligence, façade design reviews and expert witness work in façade disputes.
Work with us
Own or manage a building in Reading?
We provide façade condition surveys, defect and water ingress investigations, external wall fire risk appraisals, design reviews and expert witness work in Reading and across the Thames Valley.
Photograph: Marco Zuppone on Unsplash.