Summit on terrorism to be told that buildings must be designed to allow occupants 60 minutes to evacuate.
Engineers and architects must design buildings that will stay up for at least one hour after a terrorist attack, consultant Arup is to tell experts next week.

Arup is also in talks with leading architects, such as Foster and Partners, and clients including Canary Wharf, over a risk profile strategy that it has developed.

The consultant engineer will set out its views at a three-day conference in London, which has been organised by BRE for the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction.

More than a dozen delegates from Britain, Malaysia, Australia and the USA, including construction minister Brian Wilson, are due to speak at the summit next week.

The Arup recommendations are based on a report to be launched next week called Extreme Events: The Arup View.

The report concludes that buildings must be strong enough to give people at least an hour to make their escape and get away from the surrounding area.

It also notes that landmark and tall buildings should be designed so that they cannot collapse completely, although they would probably have to be demolished at a later date due to lack of structural integrity.

Experts at the conference intend to use the meeting as the first step in a longer-term strategy to tackle the problems created by terrorism.

A taskforce will examine at length the issues raised summit and pull together their findings, which will then be discussed at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malyasia, next year.

Corporation of London city planning officer Peter Rees, who will also speak at the conference, said landmark buildings, such as the Houses of Parliament and the Millennium Dome, were more at risk than tall buildings.

He said the government should go ahead with the construction of more tall buildings, despite fears that they are vulnerable to attack.

Arup is liaising with Foster and Partners, which is also set to produce a report examining the implications of 11 September. The Foster and Partners report will concentrate on how designs can be improved and the cost implications of such improvements.