Building contractor Lend Lease Construction (Europe) has been ordered by the High Court to pay nearly £15 million in damages to the owners of the old London Stock Exchange at 125 Old Broad Street after a glass panel on the 18th floor shattered and sent shards of glass flying onto the pavement and road below.
According to the London Evening Standard, pedestrians on the ground were lucky enough to escape serious injury when the accident happened during lunch hour. The building in question was reopened in 2008 after an £80 million refurb, but at least 35 per cent of the toughened glass used hadn’t been heat-soaked and started failing almost immediately.
In September 2008, glass from a shattered panel dropped onto the street below. And then in April the following year, a crack was seen in a panel on the 27th storey. Some three months later, a panel on the 11th floor broke as well.
But it wasn’t until August 2009 when the panel on the 18th floor broke, landing on the reception canopy of the building and the road – with glass hitting two pedestrians, who thankfully escaped serious injury.
Here at Solartek Films, we supply and install blast mitigation film with an anchorage/edge retention system so that glass is held in place when it breaks, thus saving lives and preventing serious injury.
Our systems are used regularly in buildings where additional bomb blast protection is required, as well as overhead glass. Retrofit solutions can also be used if required, so get in touch with us today to find out more.
