A luxury architecture firm 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.
Mr Ferris was a driver for Clarkes Of London and had been returning to his coach, parked on the road opposite, when the glass fell at 10.40am.
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.
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.”
Foster + Partners, the architecture firm responsible for The Gherkin, were behind the first designs for The Corniche development, and are on trial charged with “failing to discharge a duty” under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Three other companies, Lindner Prater Ltd, Wintech Ltd and St James Group Ltd, who were also involved in the development, are facing the same charge.
Prosecuting, Gordon Menzies said: “Originally these windows had been designed to open inwards, an approach that the pros say is safe and simple – 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 prise them off their hinges.”
The design meant that the outward facing windows were held in place by a single metal “restrictor” attached to the window, the court heard.
“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.
Jurors were told that after the first window panel fell from the building and “miraculously no-one was killed or injured” on August 18 2017, the developers failed to use the incident as a reason to “go back to the drawing board”.
Jurors were shown an email sent to Fosters in the wake of the first incident noting “concerns raised” about another window falling in the future.
“It’s reasonably practical for someone in Fosters’ position when someone is querying your design to actually go back and look at it properly,” said Mr Menzies.
He added that construction workers were told “not to open the windows at all”, and small written warnings were put up next to the windows for residents.
The prosecution took jurors through eight “missed opportunities” where the developers could have considered the risk of the outward facing windows.
“Effectively the designers were hoping the residents would not forget to close their windows,” said Mr Menzies.
It was not until after Mr Ferris’ death that the design was revisited, and returned to using inward opening windows.
The window pane, which weighed 130kg and was roughly 85cm wide and 190cm tall, fell around 300ft and killed Mr Ferris on impact.
Mr Menzies observed that Fosters + Partners and St James Group Ltd are likely to disagree about who made the decision to have outward facing windows at all.
Prosecutors added that glass covered buildings are “something of a speciality” for Fosters + Partners.
St James Group Ltd took up the role of “principle designer” in 2015, which meant they had a “duty to co-ordinate matters in relation to health and safety”, the court heard.
The Corniche is listed as an “exclusive riverside address” made up of 252 two, three, and four-bedroom apartments which overlook a number of London landmarks.
The trial continues.
