To celebrate the 40th anniversary of its name change from The Builder, Building has launched a Hall of Fame. Today we've inaugurated 40 people who have made the greatest impact on the built environment over that period.

It is 40 years since Ian Leslie, then editor of The Builder, persuaded the 123-year-old magazine's owners to rename it Building. To celebrate this anniversary, and with it the lives and careers of the people who have contributed most to the built environment during this period, Building has established a hall of fame.

Published this week with Building, and in association with CITB-ConstructionSkills and WSP Group, the Building Hall of Fame contains 40 entrants, voted for by a panel of 10 judges from a longlist of 140 names suggested by industry figures and readers.

The entrants span all four decades and range from housebuilders such as Sir Lawrie Barratt and Lord Taylor of Hadfield, to a union leader and an art gallery director.

The names on the list also reflect many of the landmark projects of this 40-year period, from the Sydney Opera House to the regeneration of London Docklands, as well as such breakthroughs as the advent of cost planning and Parker Morris housing standards.

Although the hall currently contains 40 names (actually 41, as the Reichmann brothers have been included as one entry), at least one new entrant will be added each year.

Postscript

From September, the Building Hall of Fame will be a permanent exhibition at the Building Centre in Store Street, central London. For details of the centre and biographies of all 40 entrants, check the link below.