All Features articles – Page 543
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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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Features
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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Features
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
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Features
Up ladder, down snake
In this month's Tracker, Building reports that although growth in activity picked up between February and March, it is expected slow down over the next quarter
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FeaturesParty animal
Dawn Gibbins' blend of knife-throwing, feng shui, democracy and belly dancing certainly makes a new contribution to modern management theory. But how did it win her businesswoman of the year?
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FeaturesThe new skool rules - OK?
Oi, you at the back – pay attention! Superstrict new sound regulations for school buildings are set to test the abilities of every education specifier in keeping the noise down. So no messing about, or else … Alex Smith takes the class
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Features
Local lowdown
Huge regeneration projects are turning Wales into a recruitment hotspot for professionals of all levels
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Features
No industry is an island
Most construction laws are made in Europe, not Britain. FIEC vice-president Peter Andrews tells Building how we need to learn effective lobbying from our EU neighbours
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Features
The graduate wasteland
It is received wisdom that construction is struggling to attract graduates. So why are so many graduates struggling to find jobs? The answer, is that colleges and the industry are failing them
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Features
Words from the front
Roofers have been faced with a grotesque rise in their insurance premiums over the past two years. Here's how they've been fighting back
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Features
The top down revolution
Anyone who thinks of roofing subbies as simple, horny-handed sons of toil had better think again. The modern firm is a slick, high-tech, high IQ outfit