Grenfell Tower cladding that may have led to fire was chosen to improve appearance of Kensington....

[steve2470]

Grenfell Tower cladding that may have led to fire was chosen to improve appearance of Kensington block of flats

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-tower-cladding-fire-cause-improve-kensington-block-flats-appearance-blaze-24-storey-west-a7789951.html


The cladding that might have led to the horrifying blaze at Grenfell Tower was added partly to improve its appearance.

During a refurbishment aimed at regeneration last year, cladding was added to the sides of the building to update its look. The cladding then seems to have helped the fire spread around the building, allowing it to destroy almost the entirety of the structure and kill people inside.

And that cladding – a low-cost way of improving the front of the building – was chosen in part so that the tower would look better when seen from the conservation areas and luxury flats that surround north Kensington, according to planning documents.

“Due to its height the tower is visible from the adjacent Avondale Conservation Area to the south and the Ladbroke Conservation Area to the east,” a planning document for the regeneration work reads. “The changes to the existing tower will improve its appearance especially when viewed from the surrounding area.”

[itsrobert]

1. The tower looks out of place.

All the other buildings are a lot shorter.

[T_i_B]

2. How many other tower blocks are at similar risk?

The few that are left near me have been cladded to make them less hideously ugly, with the exception of Sheffield's Park Hill flats, which are grade II listed and as such can't be altered too radically.

In the last 25 years, a lot of high rise blocks of flats have been demolished to make way for low rise housing, but that doesn't always appear to be an option in London.

(P.S. The less said about Park Hill being a listed building the better. What on earth were they thinking when they listed that?)

[democrank]

3. This was such a sickening, awful tragedy.

I hope the investigations will come to conclusions that will help prevent this horror from ever happening again.

[Warpy]

4. The original concrete and glass building did look borderline Stalinist

and incredibly utilitarian, the way a lot of 70s construction did. They were sold for the view and the amenities, not the curb appeal.

There were flat panels above and below the windows and hollow triangular bumps between the units, going up and down the height of the building. If you looked at both video and stills of the earlier part of the fire, you could see fire traveling up inside them and setting them ablaze from the inside out. You could see the metal strapping they were affixed to. What wasn't apparent were the fire stops inside them that were supposed to be there. Either they were inadequate enough that the fire went right through them or corners were cut and not enough were placed to stop this fire.

It also looked like the exterior of the panels was fire resistant but the interior was less so. The exterior was what peeled off and dropped onto the first responders, making fighting the fire more difficult.

The investigation into this one is going to be a dilly.

Let's hope that there are some new fire regulations and that buildings prioritize sprinkler system refits over esthetics from now on.

So far they've found 12 dead. Horrible.

[pansypoo53219]

5. no shit. trendy, but deadly.

[T_i_B]

6. Not so much "trendy"

As slightly less eye-gougingly ugly.

But the questions about such cladding being "deadly" do need to be answered, not just for the victims of this tragedy but for people who live in high rise flats across the UK.

[Warpy]

7. Most 60s-70s high rise buildings

looked like they'd fit into Nazi Disneyland. The panels did improve the appearance of the building and they did offer additional insulation. It looks like the exterior was fire resistant, that's what peeled off and fell on first responders and people trying to flee the building. I think the Achilles heel was likely those decorative ground to roof triangular bump outs. It looked like they acted like chimneys conducting the fire up and catching fire, themselves, on the inside where the insulating material was.

It's a pity they didn't retrofit sprinklers rather than spend money on esthetic improvements.

[T_i_B]

8. Grenfell Tower fire: Sadiq Khan calls on PM to appoint commissioners

Could Kensington Council be heading for the same fate that befell Rotherham Council over their major scandal?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40465494

London's mayor has urged Theresa May to appoint commissioners to run Kensington and Chelsea council after its leader resigned over the Grenfell Tower fire.

Sadiq Khan welcomed Nicholas Paget-Brown's decision to stand down, but said public trust could not be restored by other members of the council. He said residents "quite rightly feel desperately neglected". Mr Paget-Brown resigned on Friday, saying he had to accept his "share of responsibility for perceived failings".

Reacting to Mr Paget-Brown's resignation, Mr Khan said it had been "clear that the local community in and around North Kensington has lost trust in the council and that the administration is not fit for purpose". He called on the prime minister to appoint "untainted" commissioners with "a genuine empathy for local people and the situation they face" to take over the running of the council until the next local council elections.

At least 80 people are believed to have died as fire engulfed the Grenfell Tower block, in west London, on 14 June.