All Features articles – Page 569
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FeaturesBest options and choices initiative – private housebuilders
The judges chose Laing Homes as the winner of this category, sponsored by Bristan Group, for its Homestyle service
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FeaturesBest training/people development
Regional players are making a strong commitment to their staff, and it has earned Southdale Homes first place in this category, which is sponsored by NHBC
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FeaturesBest customer satisfaction improvement strategy
How can you please the ever-demanding customer? Crest Nicholson Residential seems to know, as it takes this category, sponsored by The Housing Forum, for the second year running.
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FeaturesIf winter comes …
The Swiss Re tower is going to be a fine skyscraper, but as demand for offices in London cools, 250,000 ft2 of it is still unlet. The forecast? Developers are going into hibernation and any contractors caught out in the open are in danger of severe exposure.
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FeaturesLifetime costs: flat roofs
Asphalt, single-ply polymers and built-up roofing systems are the main options for covering a flat roof – but which offers the best value over its lifetime? Peter Mayer of the Building Performance Group breaks the costs down, and explains how to make your roof last longer
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FeaturesMost creative marketing strategy
Swansea Housing Association triumphed in this category, sponsored by Wood for Good, for taking on the challenges of selling urban regeneration and changing the image of affordable housing – and succeeding in both.
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FeaturesLearning curves
The town had never seen one, the architect had never built one, the budget was as tight as a tourniquet, there was almost no time to plan it, and everything depended on the specification. We tell the story of how a primary school in Kent got itself a curved ...
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Features
Domestic roofing
Roofing material on residences is not limited to tiles and slates – many less traditional options are available, from asphalt to zinc. So how do you choose? Anthony Brett of Davis Langdon Schumann Smith outlines what you need to consider when specifying a domestic roof
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Game theory
Keeping everybody with an interest in your project happy can involve complicated strategies – that is why it's worth learning the rules …
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FeaturesPrivate sector housebuilder of the year
The supreme award in this category, sponsored by Eternit building materials, goes to south-east player Laing Homes
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Lead times
Lead times continued to decline in the past quarter, with only three packages taking longer to arrive on site, according to Mace. Gardiner & Theobald reveal how technology is raising the performance of the lifts
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Features
Your neck of the woods
As in most Building regional surveys, how you’re doing depends on where you’re doing it.
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FeaturesSense and sensuality
Japanese architect Kengo Kuma synthesises Japanese traditionalism and European modernism in the form of a bamboo house in the forests of China. Sounds about right for this year's winner of Finland's Spirit of Nature Wood Architecture Award …
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The Top 200 Consultants 2002
This year’s consultants league table ranks the biggest 200 consultants in the UK, followed by the top 100 architects, engineers, surveyors, QSs and building surveyors. But does size really matter? We discuss its relevance with the assistance of a canine analogy …Tables compiled by Martin Hewes
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FeaturesThe benchmark
With clients becoming more demanding, contractors are turning to customer satisfaction measurement tools to learn how to keep them sweet. But can you really quantify a feeling? We spoke to some firms that think you can – and that they've got it sussed …
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Features
Racism is unforgivable – but let's get the facts straight
I read last week's Building leader and articles about Najjif Shah with a great deal of annoyance.
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Features
Local lowdown
Robert Smith of Hays Montrose continues his series on regional job markets with a report on north-east England – which is fizzing with health
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FeaturesA message to you
Georg Sieber knows what direction people panic in. He knows what terrorists are about to do. He even knows how to stop them, although clients don't always listen. We met the brilliant psychologist who has a chilling warning for contractors.
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FeaturesMissing persons
Statistically, there should be three times as many workers from ethnic minorities on Britain's building sites as there are. So is the industry institutionally racist – or just very bad at marketing itself to these groups?