Rowan Moore (“Parliament is falling down”, the New Review) raises the spectre of a devastating Notre Dame-style fire at the Houses of Parliament. There is an important difference. The Notre Dame fire started, alas like many others in historic buildings, when the builders were in. It rapidly took hold, consuming the roof timbers and melting the lead.
At Westminster, Sir Charles Barry, the architect, was extremely conscious of the fire that had consumed the old Houses of Parliament in 1834 and gave the new building a fire-resistant, cast-iron roof structure and covering.
