A major architectural firm, façade contractor and others are on trial in England, charged with failing to address risks associated with a building’s windows after a window fell roughly 300 feet, killing a man.
The trial against Foster + Partners, Lindner Prater, Wintech Testing and Certification and St. James Group began on July 7 at the Inner London Crown Court. Foster + Partners is charged with “failing to discharge a duty” under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The BBC reports that all four defendants are accused of exposing people to a health and safety risk in relation to “the outward opening penthouse window vents.”
Fatal Window Failure
The incident occurred in October 2018 at The Corniche towers in London, a mixed-use development designed by Foster + Partners that was officially completed in 2019. The complex consists of clusters of towers that range from 15 to 27 stories, with curved windows and balconies.
Reports indicate that Mick Ferris, a 53-year-old driver, was returning to his vehicle on the morning of Oct. 2, 2018, when the window, complete with the metal frame, fell from The Corniche’s penthouse, killing him on impact. The window measured around 33 inches wide and 74 inches tall, weighing around 286 pounds.
Earlier Window Fall Raised Safety Concerns
According to reporting by The Standard, which is attending the trial, the window failure wasn’t the first such incident at The Corniche. A similar case occurred in 2017 when a window fell from the building, though no one was injured. Per the prosecution team, the first incident never prompted a review, with the building’s developers failing “to use the incident as a reason to go back to the drawing board,” reports The Standard.
Gordon Menzies, the prosecutor representing the Health and Safety Executive, argues the catalyst for the windows’ failures was a change from inward-opening to outward-opening.
“Originally, the windows had been designed to open inwards, an approach that the pros say is safe and simple,” explains Menzies. “However, the design was changed from inward opening 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 pry them off their hinges.”
The prosecution also notes that the outward-facing windows were held in place by a single metal restrictor attached to the window. According to MyLondon, Menzies told the jurors that the windows “had no effective failsafe and no reliable back-up. There were many things that could go wrong with the restrictors, and if they did, the consequences could be catastrophic.”
After the first window fell in 2017, Menzies notes that construction workers were instructed to leave the windows closed, and residents were warned to do the same. He argues that the designers essentially hoped “the residents would not forget to close their windows.”
MyLondon reports that Menzies told the court that Fosters + Partners and St James Group are likely to disagree about who made the decision to have outward-opening windows at all. However, St. James Group assumed the role of “principal designer” in 2015, which meant they had a “duty to co-ordinate matters in relation to health and safety,” Menzies told the court.
The Corniche began using inward-opening windows following Ferris’ death.