The Grenfell Tower Inquiry has raised significant concerns over the appointment of Studio E Architects to the high-rise refurbishment project, highlighting a series of procurement flaws and misjudgements that undermined the integrity of the process.

Studio E, an architectural firm with no prior experience in high-rise residential refurbishments or cladding, was appointed to the Grenfell Tower project in 2012. The inquiry report revealed that this decision was made without any competitive procurement process, raising serious questions about Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation’s (TMO) approach to selecting the design team for the crucial refurbishment project.

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