More Focus – Page 170
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FeaturesThe Olympic village: architectural review
The Olympic village is the last main 2012 venue to be completed and as a symbol of regeneration its success is crucial to legacy plans. But have its designers played it too safe? Building reports
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FeaturesAndrew McNaughton: A Brit abroad
As chief operating officer of the biggest UK-based European contractor with a £15bn order book and profit north of £300m, Balfour Beatty’s Andrew McNaughton has more reason than most to be bullish. But, as he tells Building, there’s work out there for smaller firms too - if they know where ...
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FeaturesMoD work: Private sector-led plan of attack
The Ministry of Defence’s announcement that it won’t let any new construction contracts this year has left bidders in limbo, but could the imminent appointment of a private sector partner boost morale in the ranks?
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FeaturesTop European contractors and housebuilders 2012: The multimillion euro question
Building introduces this year’s Top European contractors and housebuilders league tables by finding out why even the most successful firms need to be preparing for the worst
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FeaturesThe tracker: A chill wind
Construction activity fell to a nine-month low in November as residential and civil engineering work plummeted, according to latest figures from Experian Economics
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FeaturesBuilding intelligence Q3 2011
Against all expectations, construction output seems to have grown in 2011. Which means that it’s this year that the public spending cuts are really going to start hurting … Experian Economics reports
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FeaturesRaindrops keep falling: The Oxford Natural History Museum's leaking roof
The Oxford Natural History Museum has been plagued by water dripping through its roof since its completion but after years of buckets and botched jobs one architect has finally solved the problem. Building finds out how you fix a 154-year-old leak
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FeaturesExhibition Road: Walkin' & wheels
Dixon Jones’ £28m reworking of South Kensington’s great museum quarter, Exhibition Road, resolves the long stand-off between pedestrians and cars by allowing them to share the same space. Ike Ijeh is knocked over by the simplicity of the design. Photographs by Tim Crocker
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FeaturesStanton Williams: The Attraction of Opposites
Architect Stanton Williams is a company that likes to be different - so when its profit plunged by 90% at the start of the financial crisis it didn’t do what so many other architects are doing and look abroad for work. It decided to stick with what it knows best: ...
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FeaturesIs the Green Deal heading for failure?
The Green Deal is supposed to be the biggest domestic refurbishment programme since the Second World War. But the government’s own figures predict it will be anything but. Joey Gardiner asks if the coalition’s flagship policy could be heading for failure
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FeaturesGreen Deal: Does it add up for homes?
The Green Deal aims to reduce energy consumption at no upfront cost to homeowners, but which measures meet the ‘golden rule’? Phil Birch and Richard Quartermaine of Cyril Sweett report
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FeaturesThe Olympic legacy: Passing the finish line
Legacy promises were at the heart of London’s bid to host the Olympics. But whereas the construction of the sites has been a triumph, the Games’ legacy still hangs in the balance. Building looks at what’s still to do in a hectic schedule
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FeaturesFirst Impressions: Koolhaas' Gartnavel Maggie’s Centre
Building’s student panel are impressed with OMA founder’s first UK project
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FeaturesCountry focus: The Balkans
The republics of the former Yugoslavia were hit hard by the global recession in 2009, and now the EU debt crisis is threatening their recovery. Sasa Trajkovic from EC Harris reports
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FeaturesPredictions for 2012: The year of the groundhog
So what does 2012 have in store? Well, there’s the Olympics, of course, and some potentially interesting developments in nuclear power and infrastructure. But mostly it will be a year of battening down the hatches. There will be recklessly low bids for work, some firms will go under, others will ...
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FeaturesCanada's bold new library: Can we borrow it?
A city near Vancouver has taken a bold approach with its new public library - throwing out traditional study spaces and pioneering design by social media. Could it provide a template for our own beleaguered institutions? Ike Ijeh reports
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FeaturesA guide to the Olympic venues: Greener, faster, smarter
Finally, after six years of work and waiting, we have entered London’s Olympic year. Building kicks off our 2012 campaign with a guide to the main venues and what makes them greener, faster and smarter
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FeaturesDelivering the Olympics: Six months to go …
So far the construction industry’s Olympic record has been excellent. Cue big pat on the back. The question is, with a new, inexperienced client taking over and just six months to go, can it finish the job? Building reports
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FeaturesSparks fly: The row over electricians' wage agreements
The decision of seven major M&E contractors to break away from the 40-year-old JIB wage agreement was prompted by an ‘urgent need to modernise’ but has already led to angry clashes between workers and police. Building reports on a row that threatens to become the sector’s biggest industrial relations dispute ...
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FeaturesFirst Impressions: Urban Splash’s Park Hill
Our student panel give their verdict on the grade-II listed post-war regenerated Sheffield estate