Luxury tower block was built with simple flaw that led to death of man when window pane fell from 25th floor, court told

By OLIVIA DAY, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR, AUSTRALIA Published: 16:28, 7 July 2026 | Updated: 16:42, 7 July 2026 A luxury architecture firm is accused of ignoring 'foreseeable risks' after a coach driver was 'killed instantly' after being struck by a falling window pane.  Mick Ferris, 53, was passing the 27-storey Corniche tower in Vauxhall, south-west London when he was struck by the pane on the morning of October 2, 2018. Mr Ferris, a driver for Clarkes of London, had been returning to his coach parked opposite the building when the glass fell 300ft from the penthouse.  The window pane, which weighed 130kg and was roughly 85cm wide and 190cm tall, killed the coach driver on impact. At Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday, jurors heard that a window panel had already fallen from the same development in August 2017, less than a year earlier, but no changes were made to the design. Foster + Partners, the architecture firm behind The Gherkin, was responsible for the original designs for the Corniche development and is on trial charged with 'failing to discharge a duty' under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. Three other companies, Lindner Prater Ltd, Wintech Ltd and St James Group Ltd, who were also involved in the development, are facing the same charge. Gordon Menzies, prosecuting, said it was an 'accident waiting to happen again'. Mick Ferris, 53, was passing the 27-storey Corniche tower in Vauxhall, south-west London, when the glass fell from the top of the building and crushed him The architects responsible for building the penthouse have now been charged with a health and safety breach (pictured officials inspect the broken window) Mr Ferris, a driver for Clarkes of London, had been returning to his coach parked opposite the building when the glass fell from the penthouse (the building is pictured) He said if the building had not had outward-opening windows - which were held in place by a single metal 'restrictor' -  the risk to the public could have been reduced. Mr Menzies said: 'Originally these windows had been designed to open inwards, an approach that the pros say is safe and simple – however the design was changed from inward opening to outward opening. 'The prosecution's case is that the final design of these windows was not safe, and because of the design there was a serious risk that a gust of wind could prise them off their hinges. 'It had no effective failsafe, no reliable back-up, there were many things that could go wrong with the restrictors and if they did, consequences could be catastrophic.' Jurors were told that after the first window panel fell from the building and 'miraculously no-one was killed or injured', the developers failed to use the incident as a reason to 'go back to the drawing board'. Jurors were shown an email sent to Foster + Partners in the wake of the first incident noting 'concerns raised' about another window falling in the future. 'It's reasonably practical for someone in Fosters' position when someone is querying your design to actually go back and look at it properly,' said Mr Menzies. He added that construction workers were told 'not to open the windows at all', and small written warnings were put up next to the windows for residents. The West Ham fan from Hoo in Kent died instantly at the scene (pictured) on October 2, 2018 The prosecution took jurors through eight 'missed opportunities' where the developers could have considered the risk of the outward facing windows.  'Effectively the designers were hoping the residents would not forget to close their windows,' he told the court.  It was not until after Mr Ferris' death that the design was revisited and returned to using inward opening windows. Mr Menzies said that while the world is not a 'risk free environment', the companies had a duty to eliminate risk 'so far as was reasonably practical'.  'The prosecution say that these defendants did neither,' said Mr Menzies. 'They neither eliminated the risk nor reduced it to as low as was reasonably practical. Rather than stick to a safe and simple approach, they sought to rely on a much more difficult and dangerous approach. 'When they finally did change the design to something safe and simple it was far too late to prevent the death of Mr Ferris. 'The prosecution say that it was reasonable and practical to do a simple thing- to design a window that doesn't fall out once every year.' Mr Menzies noted Foster + Partners and St James Group Ltd are likely to disagree about who made the decision to install outward facing windows in the first place.  St James Group Ltd took up the role of 'principal designer' in 2015, which meant they had a 'duty to co-ordinate matters in relation to health and safety', the court heard. Prosecutors added that glass-covered buildings are 'something of a speciality' for Foster + Partners.  Mr Ferris' son, Daniel, wrote on Facebook following his father's death: 'Yesterday my family were shocked by the news that my dad's been killed suddenly in London. 'Heartbroken isn't the word to describe how myself and the family feel. I love you so much dad and I'll think about you every day. My life long idol.  Mr Ferris (pictured) was known for his rapport with coach passengers, who he would ferry to London from Rochester to Victoria each morning 'Always in my heart and mind. Now that you're gone West Ham are gonna pull it out the bag and win every match of the season just you watch.' Mr Ferris was known for his rapport with passengers, who he would ferry to London from Rochester to Victoria each morning. He would then often wait on Millbank in Central London until 4pm before driving back to Medway. A colleague described Mr Ferris' death as 'devastating' and said it happened just a week before he was due to go on holiday with his wife Rachel. 'It's unbelievably bad luck for that to happen but Mick was a popular bloke and all of us are devastated,' he said, adding that the coach driver was originally from East London but had since moved to Medway, Kent. 'He'd gone to the cafe under the arches with a colleague and I think he was heading back to the coach when he was hit by a window pane that had come loose from a penthouse in The Corniche building,' he added. 'It was pretty instantaneous from what I've been told. He wouldn't have known anything about it. 'His colleague who witnessed it is absolutely beside himself, as you'd expect, and won't be working for a while. We want to know how something like this could happen in an apartment building worth several million pounds. 'Mick was due to go on holiday next week to the Maldives with his wife Rachel and some friends. It's so tragic, my heart goes out to his family.' The Corniche is listed as an 'exclusive riverside address' made up of 252 two, three and four-bedroom apartments which overlook a number of London landmarks. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.