All Features articles – Page 524
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Features(Where) The mummy lives
They may have taken longer to build than planned, but judging by their popularity, there's no curse on Crest Nicholson's Ingress Park homes. Josephine Smit talked to director Stephen Stone as he paid a call on one of the residents.
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FeaturesThe leveller
Julie Mellor, chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, has construction's lousy record of recruiting women in her sights. But she's not out to give the industry a bashing: she has more subtle ways of making it see sense
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Features
Learning the lingo
You hear those corporate catchphrases every day. You may even use them. But do you really know what they mean? Make sure with our jargon-busting guide to talking the talk
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FeaturesWe've got your results
The Cumberland Infirmary was the prototype PFI hospital, and therefore a test-bed for how well the private and public sectors work together. Building visited it three years after it opened and makes a disturbing diagnosis
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FeaturesHow low can he go?
Famed for an audacious, but failed, bid for Tay Homes, Country & Metropolitan boss Stephen Wicks had better luck with his acquisition of NorthCountry Homes. Now he's championing rock-bottom sale prices and planning his next buy. Josephine Smit met him.
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Features
Steve Feery
Why break into the PFI market? It's too expensive and too risky – just stick to what you know
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FeaturesHard and fast
The project team had to build a village for 1000 students in 91 weeks on a budget that was tighter than a hippopotamus' leotard. The only chance was a risky, little-known construction method. Building found out what happened next
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Features
Factfile
Planning approvalsThe southern market may be slowing but Berkeley Group is still feeding its development pipeline, with the highest number of approvals in April. Overall, the emphasis has moved away from London and the South-east, with most approvals being won in the West Midlands and the North-west.New-build completionsPrivate completion numbers ...
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Get it right: Plumbing and electrical
The Annual Customer First Survey carried out on behalf of Zurich Insurance Building Guarantee is in its fourth year. The survey provides information on customers' satisfaction with their new homes. This year's survey shows a growing frustration with plumbing and electrical installations. Problems can usually be attributed to errors in ...
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FeaturesRichard Rogers' Japanese school: Dream school
An elegant open-plan school beneath a sawtooth roof has been built in a Japanese village to designs by Richard Rogers Partnership
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FeaturesNow it's critical
In a desperate bid to speed up the delivery of PFI hospitals before the next election, the government has turned to batching contracts. But will the bidders be up to the task?
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European whole-life costs
Quantity surveyor Franklin + Andrews' cost research unit has produced its annual study of whole-life costs. Here we hold up the results against last year's figures and pinpoint fluctuations in construction, ownership and labour costs for a notional manufacturing plant in 12 European countries
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FeaturesMcCarthy & Stone asked 394 local authorities whether they had assessed the housing needs of older people.
Why does this matter? Because it is depriving elderly people of housing choice and making it difficult for retirement housebuilders to meet the increasing demand for their product.
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Features
How buyers spend £30,000 on extras
Homebuyers are spending an average of £3200 and up to £30,000 on optional extras and upgrades, according to a Homes survey of 30 housebuilders – including the top 10. But what are they buying with their money? Here are the 10 most popular extras
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Features
Just the job
Barbara Irwin of Turner & Townsend explains how she went from PA to project manager
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Features
The ice queen
Zaha Hadid has broken free from restraints of architecture with this sinuous, arctic installation in a Viennese gallery
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In the shadow of the gun
Suicide bombings, aggressive security, rising tension, paranoia … Just how tempting does the money have to be to persuade British firms to work in the Middle East? Building examines the risks and rewards
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Features
Focus on the regions
A closer look at activity levels and order books in 11 regions around the UK, from the sunny spots of the South-west, the East Midlands and Scotland, to the chill winds of Northern Ireland and the South-east.
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Features
The end of the lines
The government's promise to plug broadband pipes into every new home in the UK looked like forward thinking a few years ago. Now it seems hopelessly out of date. Building keeps pace with the wireless revolution