14  The Grenfell Tower fire

Figure 4 The New Window Unit.

(Credit: Dr Lane supplemental report [BLAS0000008] p. 16 Fig. 8.14 and p. 24 Fig. 8.25.)

performance. Therefore, no part of the construction had the ability

to substantially prevent fire spread from inside the building into the
external wall cavity.11

Once the uPVC window had deformed as a result of the temperature in

the kitchen, it would have exposed a number of combustible materials
including the 25 mm PIR insulation board and the EPDM membrane.
The membrane would have burned through quite rapidly, and once
that had happened, the flame was able to enter the back of the clad-
ding cavity around the concrete column. The route of the potential fire
spread is shown in Figure 5.
The inquiry reached the conclusion that it was the design of the re-
furbishment, together with the choice of materials and the method of
construction, that allowed the kitchen fire to travel into the cladding
with such tragic consequences, and it was highly likely that if a fire has
started anywhere near a window, then it would escape from the flat and
into the cladding.12

The crown
The refurbishment of the building also involved changes to the pre-cast
concrete architectural “crown” at the top of the building. In the original
 The Grenfell Tower fire  15

Figure 5 Potential Route of Fire Spread into the Cladding Cavity.

(Credit: Dr Lane report [BLAS0000008] p. 59 Fig. 8.65)

construction, this consisted of tapered pilasters at the tops of the columns

and a ring of perforated freestanding concrete beam. As part of the refur-
bishment, the concrete columns and beams at the top of the tower were
enveloped in a band of Reynobond 55 PE ACM cassettes, which had the
visual appearance of C-shaped fins. These extended around the building
above level 23. The fins and architectural crown were designed purely
for aesthetic purposes, but crucially, exposed edges of PE were found
everywhere in the crown.
The inquiry Chairman was satisfied that the principal means for the
horizontal and downward spread of flame was the melting and dripping
of burning polyethylene, emanating partly from the crown – and also
from the spandrel and column panels – which ignited fires lower down