All Features articles – Page 633
-
Features
Shock horror: I like the dome
Leave a bunch of journalists queuing on new year’s eve with no alcohol and it’s no wonder the Millennium Dome gets mud slung at it.
-
Features
A matter of life and death
Building's occasional series on the pros and cons of rival procurement methods explains the slow death of management contracting – and how it could be resurrected, purged of its sins.
-
Features
How research saved the contractor time and money
The acoustic performance of the walls and roof are critical if noise break-out or break-in to the auditoria is to be prevented. For the first scheme, at Boldon in 1997, HBG did not carry out any acoustic testing but simply opted for a heavy roof construction with sufficient mass to ...
-
Features
Get connected
It's high time construction companies overcame technophobia and woke up to the fact that if you're not on-line, you're out of the picture. Get the message: new business starts with e-mail.
-
Features
The benchmark
[Virgin multiplex cinema, Hull] A contractor uses a series of similar jobs to form a crack team of cinematic heroes out of a bunch of raw recruits. Contains scenes of partnering, lateral thinking and cost reduction. Unmissable.
-
Features
Appointments
ContractorsBallast Wiltshier has promoted Alex Gaskill to managing director of its South-east business.Mervyn Butler has been promoted to director of Ashe Construction’s Southampton office.HousebuilderCharles Church has appointed David Hooper financial controller for the South Midlands and north London.ConsultantsSurveyors Greg Millsopp and Paul Brewer have joined the Leeds office of building ...
-
Features
There is no alternative
A bill to encourage electronic communication may mean clients insist on its use. And as it gives equal weight to electronic and written messages, being e-smart is a must.
-
Features
How adapting the design saved time
Over the past three years, HBG’s North-east office has used continuous improvement processes to hand over nine cinema shells in an increasingly short time. This benchmark compares three of these schemes.In 1997, the contractor completed the shell-and-core construction of a nine-screen Virgin multiplex cinema at Boldon, near Sunderland, in 38 ...
-
Features
Rogers returns
Fourteen years after the Lloyd’s building, Richard Rogers Partnership is back with another hi-tec block in the Square Mile. Could it be Lloyd’s II?
-
Features
The outsider
Bill Tallis was not the obvious choice to head the Major Contractors Group, in that he had never worked in construction. So, what does the new director have in store?
-
Features
Look and learn
There are important lessons to be learned from how the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank and the Millennium Dome challenged traditional construction methods.
-
Features
Sunk by your own float
When a contractor incurs loss because it's been prevented from completing on time, any float in its programme can prove expensive – as Alfred McAlpine discovered.
-
Features
Cost model: Urban design and infrastructure
Infrastructure and public realm projects are a key component of the strategies to regenerate urban districts drawn up by Lord Rogers’ taskforce. Davis Langdon & Everest, with urban designer EDAW, examine the funding, procurement and cost of the schemes that will bring people back to the city
-
Features
Cracking the code
The lack of a clear framework for arbitration in Scotland makes for a painful process for all concerned. Now, an arbitration code has been launched that aims to change all that. What are its chances?
-
Features
Dangerous choices
Be wary of being named as an arbitrator or adjudicator before a dispute has arisen – you could fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is about to be incorporated into English law.
-
Features
Catching the train
When budgets are tight and the going gets tough, training is often the first thing to go. But undertrained staff are a liability for any company, and an investment in targeted training can bring huge productivity improvements.
-
Features
Appointments
ContractorsStephen Foster has joined maintenance and small works contractor Martin Smith & Foster as manager of its business in Dormansland, Surrey.Martin White has joined Try Accord as marketing director.Electrical contractor Hills Electrical has appointed Allan Carson business development manager for Scotland.HousebuildersNicola Taylor has joined the Northern division of Redrow Homes ...
-
Features
Access all areas
Important provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 take effect in 2004. Not to worry then? Hardly. The courts are likely to take a dim view of any failure to improve access before the clauses comes into force.
-
Features
Credit where it’s due
Dome architects and wheel designers aside, the new year’s honours list celebrated the achievements of those in less glamorous construction roles. Building went to meet them.
-
Features
You’re the boss
In the first of two articles, Angela Baron of the Institute of Personnel and Development explains how to stay at the top.