All Interviews articles – Page 29
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FeaturesSimon Vivian begins
Most of Simon Vivian’s six months in charge of Mowlem have been spent struggling with disastrous projects, boardroom bloodletting and a predecessor who didn’t leave. Now he’s finally ready to do it his way. Tom Broughton finds out what he has in mind.
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FeaturesHead first
Former headmistress Valerie Bragg has been a leading player in implementing Labour’s schools strategy. Here she tells us about why architecture doesn’t really matter – and how she got on with Norman Foster at the Bexley academy.
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FeaturesDo you want to join my tribe?
Henry Pitman is the Eton-educated businessman who founded Tribal as the universal solution to the public sector’s property problems. And he wants you to help him
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FeaturesNo regrets
Nobody knows better than Sir Martin Laing, former chairman of Laing, how a wafer-thin margin can turn into a catastrophic loss. He tells us about how a contract used to be a gentlemen’s agreement and why he wasn’t to blame for that £1 sale.
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FeaturesDoing good by stealth
The new chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation is a quiet American. But Hank Dittmar’s lack of showiness is well suited to a charity that is aiming to slowly and subtly transform urban England.
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FeaturesStars and gripes
When Emcor lambasted its failing UK subsidiary Drake & Scull, US-based boss Frank T MacInnis asked Tony Whale to turn the firm around. Whale has, but he isn’t out of the woods yet. We met the two to discuss their future.
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FeaturesKate’s expectations
When Kate Barker’s report into housing undersupply was published last year, it was greeted with intense public and industry interest – after which nothing much seemed to happen. We found out whether the author was disappointed with her reception
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FeaturesDaniel Libeskind
As rumours circulate of year-long delays and complete redesigns at Ground Zero, we talk to the man responsible about why his long, bitter struggle with rival architects, the New York press and the site owner (among others) is a sign that things are going pretty well …
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FeaturesGoodbye, Mr Chapman
Sir Sydney Chapman, the only qualified architect in the House of Commons and the man behind the controversial Portcullis House project, retired from parliament last week after 30 years as a Conservative MP – but not before enjoying a final cuppa in the Commons tearoom
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FeaturesWill Alsop
To lose three major projects, 50 staff and go into receivership in one year could finish many an architect, but for this man it’s simply a new beginning. He talks to us about his plans for the renamed Alsop & Partners.
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FeaturesTony’s plans for Thomas
Thomas Vale has acquired the reputation of being Britain’s best small contractor. This is of course wrong. It’s really pretty big – and getting bigger. We met the man behind it; Mikael Gothage took his photo
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FeaturesCity slicker
Ricky Burdett, the London School of Economics’ new professor of architecture and urbanism, is the capital’s leading educator, adviser and ambassador of urban design. We met him to discuss his plans to improve cities across Europe and beyond …
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FeaturesThe Chalmers & Lyons show
Sir Michael Lyons and Lesley Chalmers are in charge of one of the best-kept secrets in regeneration – a public–private venture set up to transform the grimmest areas in England. They are also a great comedy double act.
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FeaturesDiarmuid Gavin
Don’t be fooled by the affable exterior – television’s most popular gardener is plotting a revolution in our own back yards. Here he lets us in on the secret and tries to recruit you as well.
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FeaturesJohn Redwood
After three years away from the front bench, the poster boy of the Thatcherite right is keen to demonstrate how a Tory government would make £35bn of efficiency savings – and gladden the hearts of the construction industry.
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FeaturesBig in Japan (and China, the USA, Spain, Italy, Germany…)
David Chipperfield has quietly built up a highly exportable architectural practice, with competition wins all over the world. Now, the UK portfolio is belatedly taking shape – if clients can stop project-managing for long enough
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FeaturesThe messenger
Construction’s safety record never looks worse than in the living room of a bereaved family. Alan Ritchie knows – he’s been there too many times. The new general secretary of UCATT tells us about his plans to make employers and government listen.
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Features
Steve Morgan
With Liverpool still ignoring his advances, the former Redrow boss is turning his attention to a new land-purchase venture. We meet a man throwing himself into his work …
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FeaturesSecond thoughts
Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson’s very funny, very charming and highly critical account of Britain in the 1990s, made Britons look at themselves slightly differently. But what would he write if he took the same journey today?