Morris & Co has secured planning permission for a 52-storey residential tower in east London after reworking its designs to include a second staircase following safety concerns from the London Fire Brigade.

The practice’s 421-home proposals, drawn up for Anglo-Irish developer Ballymore, were pulled from a Tower Hamlets strategic development committee agenda in January when the strength of LFB’s feelings about the lack of a second means of fire escape became apparent.

Tower Hamlets planning officers had already recommended the scheme – earmarked for a 0.44ha site on Cuba Street, on the Isle of Dogs – for approval. Current regulations allow residential tower blocks to be built with just a single means of escape, where the design allows for a “stay-put” strategy in the event of a fire.

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