The prestigious architecture firm Foster and Partners faces a trial in London over the death of Mick Ferris, a 53-year-old bus driver. A glass panel fell from the 25th floor of The Corniche building on October 2, 2018. The prosecution points to safety failures in the attic vents.
The technical failure behind the detached panel ⚙️
The investigation points to the attic vents that opened outward in The Corniche, a building opposite Tate Britain. According to the prosecution, these openings generated unforeseen pressures on the glass panels, causing them to detach. The design, associated with the same team as The Gherkin, did not consider material fatigue under repetitive wind loads, a basic error in facade engineering.
The glass that didn't see the attic 🪟
It seems that at Foster and Partners they thought tempered glass was invincible, like an office superhero. But the lashing of the London wind proved otherwise: a 25-story panel decided to take a vacation and landed on a bus. Now, the firm will have to explain in court whether its vents were meant to ventilate the building or to launch deadly confetti.