Fire safety experts warned refurbishment of Grenfell Tower was ‘making a c**p condition worse’ five years before blaze which killed 72, inquiry hears
- Exova warned of designs for refurbishment of Grenfell Tower as far back as 2012
- The design was described by fire safety experts as ‘not great’, the inquiry heard
- Conversations with architect Bruce Sounes revealed no plan to install sprinklers
- Mr Sounes told the hearing that he was ‘not aware’ of such high concerns
Fire safety experts feared the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower would make ‘a c**p condition worse’ five years before the fire which killed 72, an inquiry has heard.
Internal emails from fire safety company Exova detailed concerns from 2012 about the design for the 1970s north Kensington block by architects Studio E.
The design, which was ‘adding additional levels which merges uses around a single stair’, was described by fire safety experts as ‘not great’.
Messages sent by Cate Cooney, a senior Exova consultant, to another colleague following a conversation with architect Bruce Sounes five years before the blaze also highlighted that there was no intention to install sprinklers.
Flames and smoke billow as firefighters deal with a serious fire in the Grenfell Tower apartment block at Latimer Road in West London on June 14, 2017
Read to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry today, the email said: ‘Basically I have told him we can massage the proposals to something acceptable with separation, lobbies etc…
‘They are making an existing crap condition worse, so it’s a matter of working the worse bits out and making the new stuff work.’
Ms Cooney’s email added: ‘No sprinklers wanted.’
Architect Mr Sounes said the email ‘raises a level of concern I was not aware of’, telling the hearing: ‘I don’t think I was aware of it, even in the report.’
He was also asked whether Studio E had considered installing sprinklers in the 24-storey block, but said ‘it wouldn’t be something we would hold a view on’.
Women look at a hoarding covered in messages of condolence at the base of Grenfell tower two years after the fire in London, June 14, 2019
The skeleton of the Grenfell Tower stands covered with banners with moving messages at the top of the 24-storey building, London on June 8, 2018
Mr Sounes told the inquiry: ‘We would have expected the fire consultant to recommend or building control to advise any requirement.
‘I don’t recall sprinklers being discussed or raised as something that may be needed.
‘That’s not to say it wasn’t discussed.’
Exova was recruited by Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation (KCTMO) to give fire safety advice on the Grenfell refurbishment.
Yesterday, the inquiry into the 2017 fire heard Mr Sounes couldn’t ‘recall’ whether he knew there were different fire regulations for high-rise buildings.
Mr Sounes was asked by Kate Grange QC, counsel to the inquiry: ‘Were you aware that there might be different rules that applied to buildings over 18 metres…?’
He replied: ‘No, I was aware that they may exist but I did not refer to [the document] at the time. I can’t recall if I was aware of that.’
When asked whether he read the Government guidelines on building and fire regulations during the Grenfell project, Mr Sounes said: ‘I referred to it on occasion but I certainly didn’t read it from start to finish.
‘Because it’s so wide ranging, an architect will find themselves referring to specific sections to try and understand whether they are meeting their requirements.’
The ongoing inquiry was ordered by then Prime Minister Theresa May in the aftermath of the fire which killed 72 people and destroyed the apartment block.
Mrs May said the inquiry, announced the day after the June 2017 fire, would seek to ‘establish the facts of what happened at Grenfell Tower in order to take the necessary action to prevent a similar tragedy from happening again’.
She also promised that ‘no stone will be left unturned’.
Hearings for Phase One, which addressed the events of the night of the fire, were held between June and December 2018 in Holborn.
The report for the findings was published last October. The hearings for Phase Two commenced on January 28 this year at a location in Paddington.
The hearings continue.