Foster + Partners, the luxury architecture firm behind The Gherkin, is accused of ignoring “foreseeable risks” after a man was struck by a falling window pane and “killed instantly”, a court heard. Mick Ferris, 53, was crushed when a window fell 26 storeys from the penthouse of The Corniche, a tower block on London’s Embankment, on October 2 2018.
Fatal Incident Details
Mr Ferris, a driver for Clarkes Of London, was returning to his coach parked opposite the building when the glass fell at 10.40am. The window pane weighed 130kg and was roughly 85cm wide and 190cm tall, falling around 300ft and killing him on impact.
At Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday, jurors were told the “extraordinary” fact that a window panel had already fallen from the same development in August 2017, but no changes were made to the designs as a result.
Prosecution's Case
Prosecuting, Gordon Menzies said: “It’s reasonably practicable for clever people to do a simple thing and design a window that doesn’t fall out once every year.” He explained that originally the windows were designed to open inwards, a safe and simple approach, but the design was changed to outward opening.
“The prosecution’s case is that the final design of these windows was not safe, and because of the design there was a serious risk that a gust of wind could prise them off their hinges,” Mr Menzies said.
Design Flaws
The outward facing windows were held in place by a single metal “restrictor” attached to the window. “It had no effective failsafe, no reliable back-up, there were many things that could go wrong with the restrictors and if they did, consequences could be catastrophic,” said Mr Menzies.
After the first window panel fell on August 18 2017 and “miraculously no-one was killed or injured”, the developers failed to use the incident to “go back to the drawing board”. Construction workers were told “not to open the windows at all” and small written warnings were put up next to the windows for residents. “Effectively the designers were hoping the residents would not forget to close their windows,” said Mr Menzies.
Trial and Companies Involved
Foster + Partners, along with three other companies—Lindner Prater Ltd, Wintech Ltd and St James Group Ltd—are on trial charged with “failing to discharge a duty” under section one of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Mr Menzies noted that Fosters + Partners and St James Group Ltd are likely to disagree about who made the decision to have outward facing windows.
Prosecutors added that glass covered buildings are “something of a speciality” for Fosters + Partners. It was not until after Mr Ferris’ death that the design was revisited and returned to using inward opening windows.
The Corniche is listed as an “exclusive riverside address” made up of 252 two, three, and four-bedroom apartments overlooking London landmarks. The trial continues.
