Fire hits SOM-designed block with ACM cladding
Source: Twitter: @nat77splat
More than 100 firefighters were called today to a block of flats in east London designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), which were wrapped in combustible cladding similar to that used on Grenfell Tower
Videos of the blaze at New Providence Wharf on the Isle of Dogs appear to show the three-storey fire spreading via the external wall, with smoke pouring out from the building as cladding burns.
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The London Fire Brigade said two men had been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, while a further 38 adults and four children were treated by paramedics for smoke inhalation and shock after being evacuated.
Cladding expert: ACM dangers were ‘well known’ before Grenfell tragedy
Jonathan Sakula
A cladding expert has told the Grenfell Tower Inquiry that manufacturers and contractors should have been less “complacent” before the 2017 tragedy because of a number of widely reported fires in other countries in the years leading up to it.
Jonathan Sakula said the combustibility of building systems similar to that used at the west London tower block were well known. Sakula highlighted a number of fires that were propagated by aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding with a polyethylene (PE) core. That same combination caused the fire to spread at Grenfell Tower, where 72 people were killed.
Kingspan CEO Gene Murtagh
Materials company Kingspan has announced an investment in H2 Green Steel, which manufactures steel using hydrogen.
The insulation specialist is investing an undisclosed sum in the company and said in a statement that it expects to be a single-digit minority shareholder. Swedish-based H2 Green Steel is carrying out an equity fundraising round.
H2 Green Steel’s production process replaces coke and coal with green hydrogen to achieve an almost totally CO2-free steel product. The hydrogen used in the process will be produced by electrolysis using electricity generated from hydropower and wind power at its production site in northern Sweden. According to the company, its process reduces CO2 emissions compared with that associated with traditional blast furnaces at steel makers by around 95 per cent.
To identify any potential weaknesses in the system and make recommendations for improvement, the government has commissioned an independent review of the system for testing construction products and has appointed Paul Morrell OBE and Anneliese Day QC to lead it.
The independent review will undertake a critical assessment of the system for testing and certifying construction products. It will examine how the current system can be strengthened, to provide confidence that construction products are safe and perform as labelled and marketed.
The review panel will submit a report to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government later this year.
Construction minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan has promised to push through fundamental changes to housing regulations following the Grenfell Tower fire.
Speaking at the NBS Construction Leaders’ Summit on Wednesday, Trevelyan said the government’s new Construction Playbook will require developers to focus on quality and safety rather than keeping costs down in the future. She said a new Building Safety Bill would enshrine new standards into law, which would lead to “greater accountability for those responsible for managing building safety risks”.
Trevelyan told the summit: “Nothing is more important that ensuring people are safe in their homes. We are determined to learn lessons from the Grenfell Tower fire, and bring about a fundamental change in both the regulatory framework and industry culture, creating a more accountable system.”