Flats in Barking

[JohnD]

https://videos.metro.co.uk/video/me...018059434/640x360_MP4_7579422378018059434.mp4

Wooden balconies, apparently.

"The London Ambulance Service said it was called out shortly after the fire began, but said "there are no reports of any injuries at the moment"."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48574044

 

[JohnD]

https://barkingriverside.london/

https://barkingriverside.london/about-the-development/

 

[Vinty]

They look like glorified garden sheds, potential fire hazard being made of wood and that.

 

[Ihavenojob]

I have seen people having barbeques on their balconies, do they know the cause ?

 

[JohnD]

Until 1666, the City of London was mainly a wooden town, and fire spread easily and quickly.

I am reminded of the 1667 Rebuilding Act, which outlawed flammable materials such as thatched roofs and wooden frontages. Parapet walls were required to protect the roofs, and even windowframes had to be reduced and recessed into the brickwork. Wooden projections beyond the face of the building were not allowed.

V. Buildings to be of Brick, &c.

Archwork to sustain the Burden of the Fabrick.


"And in reguard the building with Bricke is not onely more comely and durable but alsoe more safe against future perills of Fire Be it further enacted by and with the Authoritie aforesaid That all the outsides of all Buildings in and about the said Citty be henceforth made of Bricke or Stone or of Bricke and Stone together except Doore cases and Window Frames the Brest Summers and other parts of the first Story to the Front, betweene the Peeres which are to be left to the discretion of the Builder to use substantiall Oaken Timber instead of Bricke or Stone for conveniency of Shopps, And that the said Doores Brest Summers and Window frames be sufficiently discharged of the burthen of the Fabricke by Archworke of Bricke or Stone either straight or circular"
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/statutes-realm/vol5/pp603-612#h3-0011

Perhaps the Barking architects or their clients have failed to grasp these lessons. There seem to be wooden balconies, railings and cladding in profusion.

We should know better now.

https://twitter.com/MARAJA_7/status/1137752203177975808

Wooden balconies.

 

[Brigadier]

To paraphrase Dame Judith Hackett,

There are no new accidents ; just new people having the same old accidents.

 

[nauseous]

do they know the cause ?

Yes, probably fire.

 

[JohnD]

And today, flats in Worcester Park

Blaze engulfs four-storey London block of flats
"About 125 firefighters are tackling a major blaze at a block of flats in south-west London.

The fire quickly spread to all four floors of the building in Sherbrooke Way, Worcester Park, after fire crews were called just before 01:30 BST.

Some 20 fire engines were at the scene, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said. The cause of the fire is not yet known and no injuries have been reported."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49630496

Looking at the vid, it looks like it was made of wood.

The Barking flats (see above) had wooden balconies.

Remember the Conservative Prime Minister who thought that regulation, and health and safety, were a bunch of tiresome nannyish rules getting in the way of making money?

He wanted a "Bonfire of Regulations"

Instead we get bonfires of homes.

 

[motorbiking]

Is it these?
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.384...4!1sGyyFzWG_x6CusFBEJjtCsw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Look like glorified man caves. Some sort of timber/composite cladding?

 

[^woody^]

Timber houses are fine, and have been for centuries.

The problem we have is the modern idiots who live in them.

 

[JohnD]

which century was it that wooden houses didn't burn down?

 

[JohnD]

another pic

so the building was painted white (until yesterday) and the reports say four storey. If you had a bad leg, how long would it take to get out?

but seems to have had verandahs or balconies

The carcase looks to me like timber frame

The road has a number of buildings that look like timber cladding.

I wonder how property prices are doing today in that street.

Did you know the Houses of Parliament are being fitted with a sprinkler system? (at the taxpayer's expense obviously).

So they're good enough for MPs, but not for the rest of us.

 

[^woody^]

which century was it that wooden houses didn't burn down?

The same century that masonry houses didn't

 

[Ihavenojob]

The UK needs houses (apparently) and needs them quickly, so to achieve this they throw up wooden hovels ( with a HUGE profit for builders). I do believe that other countries have wooden house, do they burn ? or is it just that everyone is more aware of these fires since Grenfell ? (don't think that was wood)

 

[motorbiking]

another pic

so the building was painted white (until yesterday) and the reports say four storey. If you had a bad leg, how long would it take to get out?

but seems to have had verandahs or balconies

The carcase looks to me like timber frame

The road has a number of buildings that look like timber cladding.

I wonder how property prices are doing today in that street.

Did you know the Houses of Parliament are being fitted with a sprinkler system? (at the taxpayer's expense obviously).

So they're good enough for MPs, but not for the rest of us.

Its one thing to criticise a house that is clad in flammable material, another to argue timber shouldn't be used in the internal construction. Surely thats not your argument? Have I misunderstood you?

The UK needs houses (apparently) and needs them quickly, so to achieve this they throw up wooden hovels ( with a HUGE profit for builders). I do believe that other countries have wooden house, do they burn ? or is it just that everyone is more aware of these fires since Grenfell ? (don't think that was wood)

Its mainly about achieving thermal efficiency without walls 1M thick.