All Features articles – Page 280
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Features
Lead times: Oct-Dec 2011
There was very little change in the final quarter, suggesting that the rise in enquiries earlier in the year failed to translate into increased workload. Brian Moone of Mace reports
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Features
Market forecast: That sinking feeling
Construction output looks set to fall by 5% in 2012 as new work dries up and the UK, like the rest of Europe, slips back into recession. Peter Fordham of Davis Langdon, an AECOM company, reports
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FeaturesWill the Olympics mean other projects in London get delayed?
Traffic restrictions set for the six weeks of the Olympic and Paralympic Games are designed to help cope with unprecedented levels of visitors to the capital. But could London’s other construction projects end up in a jam?
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FeaturesSteel insight: Cost planning through design stages
The second article in this quarterly series looks at the cost planning of structural steelwork
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FeaturesCladding the Dorchester extension: The rich kid next door
When you’re building a hotel for the young and fabulously wealthy, bronze cladding may not sound excessive, but it was still proving beyond the means of the team behind the Dorchester’s new extension project - until they discovered a spray-applied alternative … Building reports
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FeaturesCharles McBeath on Ramboll growth: Why stop now?
For Charles McBeath, head of Ramboll UK, the secret to growth is acquisition and last year he doubled the size of his company by acquiring engineering firm Gifford, boosting turnover from £35m to £58m. But that, he tells Building, was just for starters
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FeaturesThe London 1948 Olympics: Running on empty
If the preparations for London 2012 have sometimes felt like an uphill struggle, at least we haven’t had to ask the world to bring its own food. Launching our Building Memories series from the magazine archive, Building looks back to the Austerity Olympics of 1948 - the last time the ...
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FeaturesThe Olympic village: architectural review
The Olympic village is the last main 2012 venue to be completed and as a symbol of regeneration its success is crucial to legacy plans. But have its designers played it too safe? Building reports
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FeaturesThe tracker: A chill wind
Construction activity fell to a nine-month low in November as residential and civil engineering work plummeted, according to latest figures from Experian Economics
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FeaturesMoD work: Private sector-led plan of attack
The Ministry of Defence’s announcement that it won’t let any new construction contracts this year has left bidders in limbo, but could the imminent appointment of a private sector partner boost morale in the ranks?
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FeaturesAndrew McNaughton: A Brit abroad
As chief operating officer of the biggest UK-based European contractor with a £15bn order book and profit north of £300m, Balfour Beatty’s Andrew McNaughton has more reason than most to be bullish. But, as he tells Building, there’s work out there for smaller firms too - if they know where ...
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FeaturesTop European contractors and housebuilders 2012: The multimillion euro question
Building introduces this year’s Top European contractors and housebuilders league tables by finding out why even the most successful firms need to be preparing for the worst
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FeaturesBuilding intelligence Q3 2011
Against all expectations, construction output seems to have grown in 2011. Which means that it’s this year that the public spending cuts are really going to start hurting … Experian Economics reports
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FeaturesThe Olympic legacy: Passing the finish line
Legacy promises were at the heart of London’s bid to host the Olympics. But whereas the construction of the sites has been a triumph, the Games’ legacy still hangs in the balance. Building looks at what’s still to do in a hectic schedule
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FeaturesRaindrops keep falling: The Oxford Natural History Museum's leaking roof
The Oxford Natural History Museum has been plagued by water dripping through its roof since its completion but after years of buckets and botched jobs one architect has finally solved the problem. Building finds out how you fix a 154-year-old leak
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FeaturesExhibition Road: Walkin' & wheels
Dixon Jones’ £28m reworking of South Kensington’s great museum quarter, Exhibition Road, resolves the long stand-off between pedestrians and cars by allowing them to share the same space. Ike Ijeh is knocked over by the simplicity of the design. Photographs by Tim Crocker
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FeaturesIs the Green Deal heading for failure?
The Green Deal is supposed to be the biggest domestic refurbishment programme since the Second World War. But the government’s own figures predict it will be anything but. Joey Gardiner asks if the coalition’s flagship policy could be heading for failure
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FeaturesStanton Williams: The Attraction of Opposites
Architect Stanton Williams is a company that likes to be different - so when its profit plunged by 90% at the start of the financial crisis it didn’t do what so many other architects are doing and look abroad for work. It decided to stick with what it knows best: ...
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FeaturesGreen Deal: Does it add up for homes?
The Green Deal aims to reduce energy consumption at no upfront cost to homeowners, but which measures meet the ‘golden rule’? Phil Birch and Richard Quartermaine of Cyril Sweett report
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FeaturesFirst Impressions: Koolhaas' Gartnavel Maggie’s Centre
Building’s student panel are impressed with OMA founder’s first UK project