As the long-awaited final report from the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire is published, Nat Barker reflects on the role of the lead architect on the building's notorious refurbishment project.

And so we come to the end. I watched hundreds of hours of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Among the dozens of witnesses I saw give evidence, the one I still think about most is Bruce Sounes.
Sounes was the lead architect on the fateful refurbishment project that effectively turned the tower into a death trap. He gave evidence right at the beginning of phase two, four-and-a-half years ago now.
Decisions he had made, emails he had sent several years prior, were scrutinised in forensic detail
It was hard going. The cross-examination was highly technical, digging into every minutiae of Sounes's involvement in the refurbishment. Over six days of hearings ? significantly more than most witnesses ? decisions he had made, emails he had sent several years prior, were scrutinised in forensic detail. It all seemed too much for Sounes. Sitting in the witness box, his voice faltered frequently, his boyish features twisted and tremored. Proceedings twice had to be halted because he was "taken ill" ? and all of us in the room had an idea what that meant.
Sounes's position was that he had no idea about how dangerous the cladding installed on Grenfell Tower was. He claimed that he understood this aspect of the project to fall under the purview of the cladding sub-contractor, Harley ...