All Features articles – Page 361

  • Features

    Gloomwatch - Building's industry panel assesses the downturn

    2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

    In the past few months, the construction industry has become an anxious and uncertain place. To help us make sense of it, we’ve asked a student, a subcontractor, a small builder, an architect, an entrepreneur, a forecaster and a consultant to form a panel.

  • Features

    How bad can it be? The nineties recession vs the noughties crunch

    2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

    Remember 1991? For those now starting their careers, it may have been a time of cartoon turtles and spinning hedgehogs, but for older workers it was all about a recession that left the industry on its knees. Emily Wright spoke to both old and young to find out how they’re ...

  • Cancelled? The £500m Thames Gateway bridge, on which Halcrow was the engineer and Marks Barfield the architect
    Features

    Boris Johnson’s redistribution of London infrastructure cash

    2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

    The glad tidings are that Boris Johnson has just given Crossrail a fiscal injection. Unfortunately £3.5bn worth of other transport projects around the capital have been sacrificed to do so. Olivia Boyd looks at where that leaves the industry …

  • This recently-completed office building in Prague comprises 12 buildings and was built for about £120m by contractor Porr
    Features

    Country focus: Czech Republic

    2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

    With the strengthening of the Czech koruna and increased expenditure on the part of high-income groups, will foreign investment come at a price? Miroslav Vasko of EC Harris, Prague reports

  • Refurbishment is under way on London’s Savoy hotel
    Features

    Riding it out – sectors thriving in the crunch

    2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

    The world will always need GPs’ surgeries, colleges and, it seems, luxury hotels. Muireann Bolger looks at three sectors that might provide shelter from the storm

  • Features

    Where it hurts – where is the downturn doing most damage?

    2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

    Emily Wright and Muireann Bolger assess the pain region by region – with only the city of Durham showing any signs of good health

  • Features

    The tracker: Plumbing new depths

    2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

    The slowdown continues to eat into firms’ workloads and order books, with the activity index for September falling to an all-time low, according to Experian Business Strategies

  • Daniel Libeskind’s Swiss Westside shopping centre
    Features

    First impressions: Projects by Libeskind and Sheppard Robson

    2008-11-07T00:35:00Z

    Another ’First Impression’ panellist, this time Michelle Sweeney, graduate from the School of Architecture at the University of Manchester, comments on six new projects

  • Axis Design, Ecoterrace
    Features

    Building's 99% campaign award for refurbishment

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    New development may be skidding to a halt, but the need to improve existing buildings is just as important as ever. Building looks at the winner and runners-up of the prize for refurbishment at the Sustainability Awards

  • Features

    No nimbys here: will Tory councils accept their party's housing policy?

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    The Conservatives want to give local councils more power to plan development for their areas. But given that so many Tories – especially in the South – are fighting proposed housing schemes, why should housebuilders believe their plans will work? By Muireann Bolger

  • Features

    Accoya cladding

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    The first office building clad in Accoya – a modified softwood – has been unveiled in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

  • Features

    Olympic legacy: lowering the bar again

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    First, the Olympic village was downsized by 1,300 homes. Now, the media centre is likely to be replaced by a ‘mixture of temporary and permanent facilities’. Whatever happened to the 2012 legacy? Joey Gardiner investigates

  • Features

    The alternatives: cladding

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    Finding an economic way to clad a building with unconventional shapes, while also allowing natural ventilation, has resulted in some interesting solutions

  • Features

    How the bonus became extinct: Building Hays Executive salary survey

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    This year’s Hays Executive salary guide charts the dawn of the age of recession, in which the recruitment market is over-supplied and the bonus culture has gone the way of the dodo. David Parsley reports

  • Burj Dubai in November 2008
    Features

    Final stretch: on site at the Burj Dubai

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    At 707m, the Burj Dubai is finally nearing its summit. But how do you go about building such a giant – and how do you ensure it doesn’t topple over in a high wind or an earthquake? Thomas Lane went on site at the world’s tallest tower

  • The Village of exclusive shops is the last word in glitz
    Features

    Westfield shopping centre: in pictures

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    The £1.7bn Westfield London, Europe’s biggest in-town shopping centre, finally opened last week. But is it the shining example of urban regeneration that its developer claims? Martin Spring fought through the crowds to find out

  • Features

    Profiled cladding

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    Rigidal Systems, manufacturer of metal roofing and cladding, has introduced a range of profiles designed to bring a new dimension to the use of profiled cladding

  • Features

    Ventilated cladding

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    Rainscreen cladding from Shackerley has been used to help transform Boston House, a former shoe factory in Leicester, into 44 apartments, including eight penthouses.

  • Features

    Pre-painted cladding panels

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    Kingspan XL Forté is a pre-painted system from Kingspan Insulated Panels.

  • Levitt Bernstein designed this housing scheme in Barnet, north London, as a demonstration project for the redevelopment of the Grahame Park estate. The 32-unit scheme consists of family homes for rent and one and two-bedroom apartments for sale
    Features

    Mini cost model update: Small projects

    2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

    The worsening economic climate and sustainability requirements have affected costs for small projects such as affordable housing, nursing homes and extra-care homes