Haworth Tompkins’multistorey Industria development and BPTW’s Crossness Yard mixed-used light industrial and housing project were completed in 2023 and 2024 respectively. Be First, Barking and Dagenham’s council regeneration arm, was behind both.
However, fire safety compliance issues have since been identified at the two schemes. Crossness Yard remains unoccupied following a dispute with a contractor about a non-compliant back-up power supply, while issues with sprinklers have affected the 45-unit Industria commercial project, two council reports from November said.
The council’s cabinet was told that £2.23 million was needed to overhaul the sprinklers on Industria and £3.17 million needed to be spent on Crossness Yard, which requires a secondary or back-up power supply as well as associated fire safety works and new sprinklers.
The report explains that Industria’s 20 larger warehouse units had proved unlettable because the Ordinary Hazard Group 3 (OH3) sprinkler system installed was ‘unsuitable for the occupational market, who require racking to maximise the eaves height’.
The document prepared for the east London council also sets out how the current sprinklers had been fitted. It states that the original design had included an OH3 system to be installed across all 45 commercial units – a proposals ‘which was consistent with the fire strategy’.
The report adds: ‘Following advice, the decision was made by the project team to change the sprinkler system to include a High Hazard system in the 20 larger warehouse units. This would allow future tenants to rack and store products […] marginally higher than [with] the OH3 system’.
However, before construction began, this higher-grade system was ‘value engineered’ out of the design and the specification reverted back to the OH3 system across the whole building.
The report said: ‘A proper assessment of the impact on the rental levels and the lettability of the space was not fully appreciated at the time.
‘[The] OH3 system limits the usability of the space for tenants and therefore the rent they are prepared to pay.’
In July last year, less than 17 per cent of floorspace at Industria was let and the council has suggested it is making a loss because of the sprinkler issue.
The council report recommends the current OH3 system is replaced by a more flexible, Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) system, which will allow ‘unfettered storage up to 1m below the new sprinkler pipework mounted on the ceiling’, suiting ‘a greater range of occupational users’.
In a statement to the AJ, a spokesperson for McLaren Construction, the main contractor on the Industria scheme, said Haworth Tompkins had designed the scheme to be able to accommodate a high hazard sprinkler system.
‘It sounds like a sensible decision to increase lettability by enhancing the requirements to a high hazard sprinkler system in the 20 larger warehouse units,’ said the McLaren spokesperson. ‘This was considered during design, which allows the system to be enhanced at a later date to suit market requirements.’
A separate report on Crossness Yard said the 156-home mixed-use development – which features 16 light industrial units arranged over two floors – could not be let because of the lack of a standalone, independent, back-up power supply for both buildings. There are also issues with inadequate fire safety systems such as sprinklers, which were ‘installed in Crossness Yard based on the specification adopted at Industria’.
The council is reportedly considering legal action against the contractor on Crossness Yard.
Haworth Tompkins was selected for Industria in 2019 from a shortlist featuring HAT Projects, Architecture 00, Gort Scott, and DRDH. The project was tendered through the London Mayor’s £35 million Architecture, Design and Urbanism Panel (ADUP2) framework and supported by the Mayor of London and the London Economic Action Partnership’s Good Growth Fund.
A Be First spokesperson said: ‘[The term] value engineering refers to design decisions made at the time to balance compliance, cost, and anticipated use – not the removal of safety-critical systems such as fire-safety and sprinkler systems at Industria and the subsequent industrial warehousing at 12 Thames Road.’
‘Although the existing system [at Industria] meets baseline requirements, many occupiers now require increased storage heights, which can only be accommodated with an upgraded sprinkler specification. Without this upgrade, we risk limiting the pool of potential tenants and reducing potential lets of the space.
‘This is a cost-effective solution to meet future demand, supporting the creation of new jobs in Barking and Dagenham. This adjustment also protects the long‑term value of the asset, ensuring it remains competitive in a softer market and well‑positioned when demand strengthens again.’
Haworth Tompkins referred the AJ to McLaren for comment. BPTW, Be First and Barking and Dagenham Council have been approached for comment.
12 Thames Road, Crossness Yard, Barking