Foster + Partners cleared in London penthouse window fatality

A London jury acquitted architecture firm Foster + Partners and the design engineers Wintech Ltd of responsibility for the 2019 death of Mick Ferris, a 53‑year‑old coach driver for Clarkes of London. Ferris was killed when a 130 kg glass pane fell from a 25‑storey penthouse on the Albert Embankment, striking the pavement below. The jury found the project managers St James and the engineering firm Lindner Prater guilty of health‑and‑safety breaches, concluding that a redesign that changed the windows from inward‑ to outward‑opening and the removal of a safety restrictor made the accident foreseeable. The trial, which began in July 2026, lasted more than 11 hours of deliberation before delivering the verdict. A similar window fall a year earlier had caused no injuries, but no design changes were made.