Studio E’s project lead for the design phase of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment had no professional experience of working with the type of cladding eventually fitted to the tower, the inquiry into the tragedy has heard.

Associate Bruce Sounes told Martin Moore-Bick’s panel that his only encounter with aluminium composite material cladding had been when he was a student.

However he said that his main concern when Studio E was appointed to the tower’s refurbishment was working on a major project where residents remained in situ, rather than the over-cladding aspect of the project.

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