The not-for-profit provider is currently building ‘U City’, a 20-storey building in the centre of the Adelaide CBD that will be home to six floors of retirement living residences, as well as its new headquarters, disability accommodation and short-term accommodation.

Following safety concerns after the deadly Grenfell Tower fire in London in June, the developers have now redesigned the exterior façade of the U development on Franklin Street to completely exclude the use of approved exterior cladding panels.

Uniting Communities Chief Executive Simon Schrapel said: “safety and confidence in the building’s integrity must come first.”

“We have moved quickly to redesign a very small element of the development to eliminate all use of any composite panels containing polyethylene materials in the building’s façade, in the light of the ongoing debate about their potential combustibility.”

95 per cent of the building’s original façade design already incorporates completely non-combustible and approved panels, but around 5 per cent used aluminium composite panels, which are approved for use and widely used in Australian building construction.

They have now opted to use locally fabricated aluminium sheeting which is completely non-combustible.

“This change in material may come at extra cost to us as the developers, however cost is clearly not our primary focus when it comes to safety and protecting lives,” Mr Schrapel said. “We are happy, as with the creative mixed use nature of U City, to be leaders in the development field for Adelaide and Australia.”