Lendlease ordered to pay £14.8m for city tower falling glass

Aaron Morby 8 years ago
Share

The High Court has ordered Lendlease to payout £14.8m after a London city tower was forced to be reclad for a second time because of falling glass panes on to the street below.

125 Old Broad Street after most recent recladding
125 Old Broad Street after most recent recladding

The ruling ends a long legal battle surrounding the former London Stock Exchange tower, now known as 125 Old Broad Street, where on one occasion a 15ft plate glass window fell from the 17th floor onto a busy street just missing office workers enjoying an early lunch.

In total 17 plate glass windows failed on the 26-storey tower forcing its owner to pay to reclad the building, just four years after Lendlease had completed its original renovation project.

Lendlease was named throughout the judgement as the defendant.

But the Enquirer understands that was a procedural matter and the case centred on work by glazing contractor Permasteelisa.

A Lendlease spokesperson said: “Permasteelisa and Lendlease have reached an agreement whereby Lendlease will not be financially impacted.”

Klaus Lother, Chief Executive Officer of Permasteelisa UK Ltd said: “This judgment is relevant to an old project executed in 2005 and is connected with a decision by the client to change the project materials.

“The need for changing said materials was attributed by the client to Permasteelisa, which we objected to.

“Although we cannot agree with the conclusions of the judgment, we were long since prepared for such a possibility.

“Therefore it will have no impact on Permasteelisa business in the UK or at Group level.”

Handing down his judgment last week, Mr Justice Stuart-Smith described the project’s failings as “disastrous”.

Lendlease first carried out the extensive redevelopment of 125 Old Broad Street under a two-year design and build contract, completing in 2008.

Between then and 2012, the building suffered 17 spontaneous glazing failures due to nickel sulphide levels in the glass.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured by falling glass, but the building had to be cloaked in scaffolding to protect the public.

Owners Hammerson, the Bank of Ireland and GE Real Estate then took the decision to pay for the building to be reclad with a new glass curtain walling system in 2013.

The judge said that Lendlease had failed to ensure it had the sufficient documents to prove the glazing supplied had been properly heat-treated to prevent failure.

He said: “I find as a fact that a substantial proportion of the glass that was used on 125 OBS, probably in the region of 35-40% though possibly more, was not heat soaked in accordance with the requirements of the contract.

“If it had all been heat soaked properly, there would probably have been either no breakages or one breakage.”

Around £8.7m of the £14.7m award covers the reglazing cost, with other remedial works and financing charges making up the balance.

Latest news

Six guilty of £2m bribery over Devon housing site deals

Corrupt building bosses and E.ON project chief and QS sentenced
4 days ago

1,650 former ISG staff launch legal claims

Redundancy Payment Service facing payout of more than £9m
4 days ago

Plans lodged for £1bn cancer research centre in Sutton

London Cancer Hub will deliver around 1m sq ft of lab and research space
3 days ago

London Met Uni seeks firm for £284m estate revamp

Contractor wanted to deliver capital works and FM
3 days ago

Delayed £2bn estate rebuild back on as Berkeley signs deal

Birmingham council development agreement paves way for 2028 Ladywood start
4 days ago

Tilbury Douglas boosts margin to 2.1% as profits double

Firm targets 3.5% margin by 2029 under new business plan
4 days ago

Subbies battle for fastest bricklayer title

Winchmore management team go back on the tools
4 days ago

Green light for revised McLaren Reading revamp

Mixed-use plans to transform Broad Street Mall site
3 days ago

Three arrested in Blu-3 and Mace bribery probe

Serious fraud office swoops over alleged £3m bribes to former Mace associates
5 days ago

Scotland’s most complex A9 dualling job heads to market

Market testing starts for £205m Pitlochry to Killiecrankie 6.4km upgrade
5 days ago

Unite signs £390m student beds JV with Manchester Met

Construction at Cambridge Halls site to start next year
4 days ago

Turkish contractor Limak to build new Luton Town stadium

Construction to start this summer on 25,000-seater venue
5 days ago

Kitchen fitter crushed to death by concrete blocks

House builder goes into liquidation before court case
4 days ago

Mears clinches £230m renewal for key Milton Keynes housing deal

Housing upkeep contractor achieves 100% renewal rate in bust rebid period
4 days ago

Murphy on board at new £32m rail station

Construction to start next year at Golborne station
5 days ago

HS2 engineers finish UK’s heaviest bridge slide early

A46 Kenilworth Bypass reopens 30 hours earlier than planned
5 days ago

Bowmer + Kirkland to build £190m Oxford science scheme

Work to start at end of next month on 180,000 sq ft Fabrica scheme
5 days ago

New BAM leisure centre pool springs a leak

Contractor investigating "technical issues" delaying new £36m green leisure centre
6 days ago

United Living lands £250m HyNet pipeline deal

Firm wins deal to design and build over 34km of pipework to collect CO2
5 days ago

Hydrogen diggers get green light to use roads

JCB hails historic decision for advance of hydrogen-fuelled plant on sites
5 days ago

Go-ahead for McAleer & Rushe Glasgow student job

£100m funding deal paves way for 591-bed student tower
5 days ago

Fly-tippers to get their vehicles crushed

Drones will be used to identify cowboy construction waste operators
5 days ago

Green light for £150m West End office revamp

Shaftesbury Avenue office retrofit retains 75% of original building
6 days ago

Morgan Sindall lands £30m Brunswick Wharf scheme in Bideford

North Devon waterside project will provide 100 flats
6 days ago

Former Keltbray managers jailed after corruption trial

Jail sentences following bribery probe on jobs including Battersea Power Station
7 days ago

Lidl pumps £500m into store and logistics expansion

Discounter plans 40 new stores this year as expansion ramps up
6 days ago

JJ Rhatigan UK profit jumps as turnover tops £150m

Irish contractor's expansion in England gathers pace
6 days ago

Driverless digger to be used on Taylor Woodrow site

Autonomous excavator to work at Manchester Airport after successful trial
6 days ago

MCS Build lands Basingstoke warehouse scheme

Construction starts this month after £26m funding deal
6 days ago

Leeds United unveil stadium revamp design

Club has still to set a timeframe for staged Elland Road upgrade
7 days ago

Contractor services