All Features articles – Page 379
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FeaturesBuilding in the fourth dimension
You‘ll know about intelligent 3D programs, but they’re old hat now. The leading firms are using software that can model an entire scheme from planning application to demolition. Stephen Kennett looks at how it works and, overleaf, how it has transformed a Foster + Partners office
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FeaturesHallowed be thy brand
BMW’s car showroom in Munich takes the worship of luxury automobiles to astonishing lengths
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Features
Lead times July-October 2007
There were no significant changes to lead times for materials this quarter, indicating that the market is levelling out, says Brian Moone of Mace. Overleaf, he turns the spotlight on tall buildings
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FeaturesColin Fellows’ £120m flutter
The property director of Jockey Club Racecourses is wagering that spending that much on doing up his 14 tracks will restore horseracing’s fortunes. Olivia Boyd put on her trilby and found out more
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FeaturesThe Building Good Employer Guide 2007
Find the best employers in the industry with our Good Employer Guide which features an independent survey of 15,000 employees
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FeaturesWhat the table tells us
So do contractors do more inspiring work than architects? Who hands out the most motors? Are engineers more generous with holidays than consultants? Which firms give you the most maternity benefits? The best pensions? Which is the most fun to work for? David Rogers analyses the data
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Features
While the sun shone
The improved weather conditions in August perked up contractors across the country, although demand has yet to live up to their enthusiasm. Experian Business Strategies reports
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FeaturesThe way we work now
Ten years ago, UK construction companies resembled the French foreign legion in their treatment of workers. But the harder they’ve fought to recruit staff, the more they’ve developed their soft skills.
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Features
Lafarge: Strong stuff
Building materials giant Lafarge operates in 70 countries around the world.
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FeaturesWhy a good employer is a green employer
That big purple balloon over there symbolises the amount of carbon that your office produces. If you want to boost staff morale, all you have to do is shrink it.
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FeaturesMy employer helped me
Lydia Stockdale met three people who made lucky choices when they picked a firm to work for
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Features
Designs for life
European structural design codes will introduce the concept of ‘design working life’ to British engineering. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans explains exactly what that means.
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FeaturesThe planning gain supplement is dead. Long live the roof tax?
Developers have won a famous battle with the government over the introduction of the PGS. But as infrastructure still has to be paid for, it looks like we’ll be moving to a system based on the Milton Keynes roof tax. David Parsley asks what this means
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Features‘There is no question of cost overruns on this job’
After 18 years, the £16bn Crossrail project has finally got the go-ahead. Now chairman Doug Oakervee, in his first interview, explains how he will fulfil his promise not to go a penny over budget.
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FeaturesNo contractors that way …
Shetland is a 13-hour ferry ride from mainland Britain and is closer to the Arctic Circle than to London, so when its main school fell into disrepair, the islanders faced a struggle finding someone to build a new one.
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FeaturesLeadbitter, the champions
The Oxfordshire contractor wins the cup in Building’s inaugural charity five-a-side tournament
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FeaturesConcrete lattice structures: How do you like my fishnet building?
Fashion giant Monsoon is used to setting trends, so it is no surprise that the design of its new London headquarters breaks new ground. Stephen Kennett unpicks the concrete net holding up the building
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Features
Britain’s new front door
St Pancras station is about to become the last vital part in the 186mph link that connects London with the rest of Europe. So just as well that it’s an architectural and engineering triumph, then. Martin Spring looks at how it was achieved
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FeaturesIs this Britain’s best boss?
What qualities make a leader special. Is it charisma? Is it a corduroy suit and a comedy haircut? Or is it that they continue to employ you after you’ve written a sex farce about them and put it on in your local pub? Toby Young says all these play a ...