How curious it is that a city’s history is so closely intertwined with fire. We’re standing before the Laws Building, a structure that, while not directly touched by the flames of the Great Fire of London in 1666, owes its very existence to that devastating event. You see, the Great Fire, which ravaged London for days, consumed a staggering 80 percent of the city. It also consumed the city’s outdated and inadequate building regulations.
In the aftermath of the fire, London was given a new start, a chance to rebuild bigger, better, and safer. That’s where the Laws Building comes in, though it wasn’t known by that name then. The regulations set forth in the London Building Act of 1667, a direct result of the Great Fire, revolutionised construction practices not just in London, but eventually throughout Britain.
These regulations, drafted by architects like Sir Christopher Wren, went beyond mere fire safety. They dictated the use of brick or stone over flammable timber, mandated wider streets to act as firebreaks, and set standards for structural integrity. The first district surveyors were appointed to enforce these new rules, ensuring that a disaster like the Great Fire wouldn’t happen again.
The Laws Building, like many structures erected in the centuries that followed, benefited from this legacy of stringent building codes. Though the regulations evolved over time, with new public health concerns and advancements in construction, the core principles remained. The spirit of the 1667 Act, the desire to build a safer and more resilient city, echoes through the very foundations of this building and countless others.