More Focus – Page 319

  • Features

    Sheds: a new approach

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Concrete industrial buildings are now an attractive and cost-effective alternative to the ubiquitous metal box, says Jenny Burridge, The Concrete Centre

  • Building A was designed as a three-storey, 4,650m2 L-shaped office building with curtain walking and air conditioning in an out-of-town business park in the South-east
    Features

    Economic sense

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    An independent study for The Concrete Centre has found that concrete-framed buildings can cost up to 5% less than their steel-framed equivalent. Also, the frames have a lead time of four to six weeks compared with up to 18 weeks for steel, and they save money in cladding and internal ...

  • Crosswall construction at Prospect Hill, Finglas Road, Dublin. The solution, from Trent Concrete, enabled the project to go from ground level to a watertight
    Features

    Smart grey matter

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Much of the drive for innovation in housebuilding is focused on increased efficiency and reduced costs. Recognising this, the concrete industry is delivering a range of construction approaches that are cost-effective and efficient but still provide the traditional, inherent benefits of concrete. Jeff Dyson, head of housing solutions at The ...

  • The Doka Windshield is guided by a climbing system up the side of a structure, which allows large units to be hoisted quickly with minimal crane time
    Features

    Good form

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Working on high-rise developments demands two major requirements: the provision of a safe working environment and the reduction of weather-related downtime. A new generation of enclosed formwork meets both needs. Andrew Minson, director, technical services and head of structural engineering at The Concrete Centre, reports

  • The cast panels create an elegant facade
    Features

    Doing the rounds

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Developer Asticus chose concrete for a cylindrical London office block. The results were beautiful – and saved money. Guy Thompson, head of architecture and housing at The Concrete Centre, reports

  • Features

    Set for life

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Embodied energy is only one part of a building’s impact on the environment. Specifiers should look at the bigger picture, reports Andrew Frost, sustainability manager of The Concrete Centre

  • Berkeley Homes’ housing estate in Oxford used CBPPs for a sustainable drainage solution.
    Features

    Go with the flow

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Climate change could make floods more frequent, and traditional hard landscaping can worsen them. Fear not: permeable concrete paving can help replicate natural drainage, reports Alan Bromage, head of civil engineering at The Concrete Centre

  • Features

    Top of the class

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Now pay attention at the back – the government has made it clear that design is not to be neglected in its ambitious school building and refurbishment campaign. Swotting up on concrete’s advantages in education buildings could get you top marks, says Andrew Minson, director, technical services and head of ...

  • Features

    Class values

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    New independent research confirms that concrete offers big cost advantages to the schoolbuilder. On the different designs tested, concrete beat steel for cost and lead times every time, reports Francis Ryder, head of costs at The Concrete Centre

  • Features

    The final analysis

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Tessa Jowell has now given us the final, definitive, official budget for the London 2012 Olympics, and it’s a huge increase on the 2005 figure. Or is it? Mark Leftly crunches the numbers

  • The V building planned for Birmingham
    Features

    The dream towers of Mipim

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    It was the year of the tall building down in Cannes, with Eric Kuhne’s V building in the vanguard

  • Features

    Appointments

    2007-03-23T00:00:00Z

    Contractors

  • Zaha Hadid’s Wolfsburg Science Centre in central Germany
    Features

    Country focus: Germany

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    In the first of our country-specific economic profiles, we look at Germany, where the market has grown for the first time in 10 years. Meinhard Rudolph and John Atkins of EC Harris report

  • Features

    The big ask

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    In our series of head to heads, new members of professional institutes put tough questions to their leaders. Here, Andrew Link asks Michael Brown, deputy chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Building, about the old boys’ network and why anyone should join the CIOB

  • Features

    Now all this is the client’s problem ...

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    As Building’s many health and safety blunder photos show, the UK’s construction sites remain hairy old places to work. What has changed is that the CDM regulations are about to put more responsibility for policing them on the employer. Katie Puckett finds out just how much – and how five ...

  • Features

    Calling all green gurus

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    Zero waste, carbon negative buildings and throw in a flood contingency plan while you’re at it – sustainable construction has become a thriving industry within an industry. Its pioneers are shaping the future and their skills are much in demand. Building asked a selection of the industry’s leading lights to ...

  • The first frame was lifted on to the site on Sunday evening
    Features

    Religious conversion

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    Replacing a kiosk at St Paul’s Cathedral demanded an intricate, well-prepared crane operation – wings and prayers didn’t come into it.

  • Bob Holt (left) and Stuart Black
    Features

    The severed alliance

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    Back in 2004 it looked as though social housing firm Mears had picked a dream team. Bob Holt and Stuart Black, the bruiser and the wunderkind, were together at the helm of a City darling. So why did Black walk?

  • John Callcutt
    Features

    Honest John

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    John Callcutt’s housebuilding review is likely to be as candid as the man himself

  • The Binder boiler is a serious piece of machinery: you may have to take the roof off to fit it in
    Features

    Help me, Rhondda

    2007-03-16T00:00:00Z

    When Nightingale Associates was appointed to design the £22m Rhondda Valley hospital in South Wales, a 108-bed facility due for completion in April 2008, it wasn’t aware that it was going to end up installing the largest biomass boiler the NHS has seen.