The Cost of Flammable Façades

I watched the fire climb the façade—flames shooting upward and even downward as burning debris fell, setting off new fires on the floors below. It wasn’t random. Fires like this follow a path. That path is built into the materials themselves. As architects, we know that when fire behaves like this, it’s usually because the materials helped it spread.

And we’ve seen this before. In London, Grenfell Tower became a national tragedy when flammable cladding turned a small fire into an unstoppable blaze, killing 72 people. In Valencia, flames tore through a 14-storey residential tower in minutes, leaving 10 dead. In Sharjah, five lives were lost—but thanks to newly upgraded cladding, the fire stayed contained inside the apartment. And in Dubai, towers like the Torch—burning more than once—have shown how dangerous outdated façade systems can still be.

That’s why building codes matter. In 2017, Dubai introduced major changes—flammable aluminum panels were banned on new towers. By 2018, non-combustible, fully tested façade systems became the standard, aligning the city with international practices like NFPA 285 and BS 8414.

But here’s the thing—many buildings were built before those updates, at a time when better international safety standards already existed but weren’t enforced locally. That’s where the gap lies. Maybe safer materials were proposed but overlooked. Maybe they were approved but never installed. Or maybe the risk simply wasn’t recognized. We don’t know the full story behind this fire—but what we do know is that something important went wrong.

Now look at Sharjah. Earlier this year, a fire started inside an apartment, but it didn’t spread beyond it. Why? Because the building had already replaced its cladding. In late 2023, Sharjah launched a city-wide campaign to remove flammable façade materials from older towers. That decision—made before disaster struck—likely saved lives.

And that’s the real lesson. Safety decisions aren’t always black and white. They can be shaped by budgets, unclear rules, or simply by not seeing the danger in time. But as architects and developers, we have a responsibility to go further than just what’s required. Because we don’t just design for code—we design for people.

When we put care and human well-being at the center of our work, that mindset pays off. Not just in safety, but in happiness, trust, and long-term value. Fire safety isn’t just a checkbox. It’s a commitment. One that has to be part of every decision we make—right from the start.

Because when the fire begins, there’s no time left to rethink it. And for the people inside, there may be no second chance. But if we lead with the right mindset—one that truly puts people first—our buildings become more than just structures. They become places that protect, support, and endure.