All Features articles – Page 643
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Features
Young architectural practice of the year
In this category sponsored by Lafarge Redland, a two-year-old Scots firm's prestigious local schemes secured it the top spot.
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Best practice makes perfect
… As Mansell's bottom-line shows. Following the best-practice mantra – everything from KPIs to partnering – the contractor boosted profit 50%. But what about the rest of the industry?
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Features
Every body welcome
Fitting legislative requirements into building policy is not easy at best, but a DDA compliance system could be the answer to builders seeking to avoid future legal action
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Features
Invasion of the bodysnatchers
Top executives are disappearing. They are being taken. Not by a dark alien force but by headhunters, who are making a comeback in construction.
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Budding genius
Ian Wall’s Edinburgh developer started with £5m; 14 years later, it’s worth £70m. And the funny thing is, its main aim wasn’t to make money at all.
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Builders merchant of the year
On-line business sorted the men from the boys in this award sponsored by Dulux, with Travis Perkins' free Internet access and e-catalogue securing it first prize.
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How the winners were chosen
More than 200 contractors, consultants, housebuilders and builders merchants entered the sixth annual Building Awards.
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Where do you draw the line?
The Plant Construction vs Clive Adams and Another case was the first time that the courts have ruled on a contractor’s obligation to warn of potential hazards in design and construction plans.
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Gatecrashing parties
New legislation giving rights to third parties is a bona fide grey area, and contracts will have to exclude it until the courts can set out some case law. It is also a wonderful opportunity …
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Strewth! Oz gets tough
Cowboy builders in Australia will be chopped off at the knees by legislation that’s far more hardline than ours. In New South Wales, firms face blacklists, huge fines and even prison if they transgress.
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How to make money and still go to heaven
Steve Wright, head of Gusto Construction, has been taken aback by the interest in his ecologically virtuous Nottinghamshire development. But he’s a quick learner. Now he’s thinking of setting up as a green consultant.
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Features
Ian Macpherson
The winner of the Owens Corning-sponsored Personality of the Year award retired last year after 35 years in construction – 10 of them heading the hugely successful CM firm he founded.
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Just the job
Dealing with protesters and meeting the Terminator are all in a day’s work for Carillion’s special events operations manager.
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Features
Project/construction manager of the year
In this Barbour Index-sponsored award, sound financial results and the outstanding management of complex schemes such as Bovis Lend Lease's Bluewater were the deciders.
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Multidisciplinary practice of the year
Repeat business and a truly diverse skills base caught the eyes of the judges in this category, which was sponsored by materials group Marshalls.
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Ooh,Missis!
Michael Wilford's brash, blowsy arts centre is more fat ladies than matchstick men. But this disjointed Salford landmark could well become as popular with the public.
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Features
Surveying practice of the year
In this Hays Montrose-sponsored category, the firms have fully embraced the Egan agenda, concentrating on client satisfaction, introducing benchmarking and upping partnering deals.
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Specialist subcontractor of the year
The top firms in the award sponsored by The Facilities Business worked on some of last year's most prestigious projects, including the Millennium Dome and Bluewater.
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Features
Expert advice
The role of the expert witness has changed dramatically since the Woolf reforms – more power, more responsibility. So, here’s a list of things to pack when the call comes.
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Features
Angle poise
Clear-glazed partitions spread precious daylight in an ad agency's attic office. And, in a special twist devised by hotshot designer Softroom, they slope to reflect the mansard roof.