"The Arab Gulf states are home to some of the most spectacular high-rise towers in the world. But some building experts say that many of those towers are sheathed in a highly flammable material that puts occupants at risk. One expert in the UAE has estimated that 70% of the high-rise buildings there have panel facade cladding made of a combustible thermoplastic core held between two sheets of aluminium.When the panel ignites, fire spreads rapidly, racing to the top of the building and sending flaming debris hurtling to the streets below. "Like a Roman candle" is how one observer described it.
The initial cause of the fire can be something as simple as a discarded cigarette butt or a charcoal barbecue left unattended on a balcony.
Nice find!
“The reason why it’s not known is maybe because they are too busy extinguishing fires and not resourced enough to investigate them,” he is quoted as saying.
“They will ultimately find and force a solution because the financial implications for them of a series of fire disasters is not something they will want to deal with,” he says.
The Standard Oil building in Chicago (now Aon) had marble cladding that warped and occasionally fell off!
The refacing cost more than the original building cost!