Studio E was appointed architect of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment project without an Ojeu process and despite being “a little green” on technical expertise, the inquiry heard.

It was picked “apparently on the grounds of speed and convenience alone” because it was already working on a school at the foot of the tower, said Stephanie Barwise, counsel for some of the bereaved survivors and residents.

She accused all the professional disciplines, including Studio E, of an “epidemic level of incompetence from a fire safety perspective”.

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