More Focus – Page 207
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FeaturesMaglev high-speed trains: London to manchester in 55 minutes
Magnetically levitating trains are faster and quieter than high-speed trains, use less energy and take up a lot less space. So why is this technology still waiting on the platform?
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FeaturesFuture proofing the office: iPod generation calls the shots
Ignore those iPod-toting Tweeters at your peril. They are the office users of the future. Emily Wright reports on how both commercial and residential design will have to adapt to the lifestyle of the Facebook generation
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FeaturesTrial and error
The team turning a leaky Edwardian building into a paragon of energy efficiency is in its second month on site. Robert Prewett, the project architect, looks at services and reports back after an airtightness test
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FeaturesCost update: Q2 2010
The quarterly analysis of construction industry costs and prices shows everything going up except wages and employment
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FeaturesProcurement refurbishment
When budgets are tight, refurb can seem the ideal solution. But how do clients and contractors allocate risk and manage outcomes? Simon Rawlinson of Davis Langdon looks at the options
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FeaturesRehousing animals: First catch your vole
The London Gateway port will handle 3.5 million containers a year and is a huge construction undertaking. But an added complication is the relocation of thousands of animals that inhabit the area - at a cost of £50m
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FeaturesMock court cases for construction: Safety on trial
The HSE’s latest initiative to bring the safety message to the masses is to hold mock court cases for construction professionals to observe. But how effective is it likely to be? Andrew Hankinson plays court reporter
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FeaturesFate of firms taken over by Erinaceous: To fight another day
The companies taken over by ’one-stop consultant’ Erinaceous, aka the exploding hedgehog, have spent two years struggling to safety. Roxane McMeeken reports live from the front line
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FeaturesRICS recession survey: The sum of all our fears
Well, the surveyors are worried, anyway. After a year of increasing optimism, they now predict more redundancies, less work and greater pressure on margins. So is construction heading for a double-dip recession
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FeaturesFirst Impressions: Kapoor’s Orbit for London 2012
Kingston student asks: Is it sculpture, architecture or sculptecture?
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FeaturesJohn McAslan: Our man in Haiti
John McAslan has a lot on his mind. First, the huge housing design competition he’s running for the Haitian government. Back at home, meanwhile, his practice is working on a concourse at King’s Cross and a Crossrail station at Bond Street
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FeaturesBrockholes floating visitor centre: Tread lightly
The designers of a new visitor centre for Brockholes wetland nature reserve plan to float the facilities in the middle of a lake - while ruffling as few feathers as possible
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FeaturesGolf competition: Lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer
What better way to pass a lovely summer’s day than a few rounds of crazy golf? Okay, there are plenty of better ways, but when you’ve got construction’s finest to tee off against each other on an adventure-themed golf course, it’s a whole new ball game
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FeaturesJapanese house by Eastern Design Office: Heaven & earth
This Japanese home-cum-office on the edge of a precipice is designed to resemble a dragon flying over a mountain
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Features
Building Intelligence
Public housing and infrastructure are keeping construction’s nose above water, though the industrial sector’s 40% fall in new orders is a drag
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Features
The tracker: Still sinking slowly
The ONS might have recorded a rise in output, but figures record a continuing gentle decline …
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FeaturesRCA Show 2010: Architecture
Highlights includes a public kitchen infrastructure in King’s Cross and a Gothic horror inspired exploration of the contrasting processes of dissection and cultivation of bodily tissues
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FeaturesTerry Farrell's Regent's Place: Regent’s spark
Sir Terry Farrell’s Regent’s Place is the fruition of a vision that should kick-start the regeneration of one of London’s more grisly thoroughfares. Ike Ijeh reports
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FeaturesInternational costs 2010
Now that the great global roller-coaster seems to be slowing down, where has it left tender prices? Paul Moore of EC Harris looks at how economies around the world have fared …
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Features101 under 28: They’re the young generation and they’ve got something to say
101 Under 28: This week, Building launches a project to find out what construction’s younger generation really think about the industry they’ve chosen to spend their careers in. Roxane McMeeken conducted an initial survey of our sample group, then took three of them to the pub to grill them further ...