All articles by Thomas Lane – Page 10
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FeaturesA special relationship
Reebok was so set on making its flagship UK sports club the mirror image of its US chain that it insisted its fit-out contractor use American workers and materials. Cue much head scratching, jargon translation and getting used to strange building practices – like no tea breaks … Thomas Lane ...
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FeaturesLiquid sky
This raised, glass-bottomed lake is the centrepiece of a city park in Japan, and will cast a flickering light to soothe visiting nine-to-fivers below
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News
Construction is ignorant of Egan initiatives, says report
Survey finds only 12% of construction firms have partnering deals and 10% use key performance indicators.
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FeaturesWhere did Atkins go so wrong?
After five years of extraordinary growth, consultant Atkins had become so big that nobody really understood the whole business. So in a bid to create a coherent structure, its new chief executive introduced a centralised accounting program – and a year later its shares were almost worthless. The question is, ...
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FeaturesFoster's cover up
First Norman Foster gave us his erotic gherkin, now he's come up with an apartment complex that has more curves than a Rubens nude. But far from baring all, he's draped an elegant roof down its flank. Thomas Lane measures the vital statistics
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FeaturesThe benchmark
With clients becoming more demanding, contractors are turning to customer satisfaction measurement tools to learn how to keep them sweet. But can you really quantify a feeling? We spoke to some firms that think you can – and that they've got it sussed …
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Featureskeeping up a facade
It's all very well designing buildings with extraordinary shapes, but do the architects ever stop to consider how the windows are going to be cleaned? Well, yes, actually, they do. Thomas Lane met the specialist who worked with Norman Foster on the Swiss Re tower
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FeaturesOut of the dark ages
Archaic lighting guidance designed to work with 1980s computer technology has finally been superseded by the new LG3. So why, asks Thomas Lane, isn't everybody feeling brighter about it?
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News
Campaign for timber frame safety
Oxfordshire fire service intends to send leaflets to the residents of timber frame buildings highlighting the potential fire risks.
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FeaturesLighting the way
A Tokyo art gallery perched atop a skyscraper needed a ground-level entrance building to lure visitors in. The architect's response – a giant glass, elliptical Japanese lantern – demanded some inspirational structural engineering.
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FeaturesThe specials
In a world of mass-production, the Matthews family has turned to specialisation for their survival, producing handmade bricks and using craft skills that prove traditional technologies can thrive in a modern economy.
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Features
Fire alarm
Almost 20 years after a devastating World in Action exposé, the timber frame industry is back under the microscope. This time, government-backed research has found that poor workmanship is exposing occupants of timber frame buildings to potentially fatal fire risks.
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FeaturesResurrection symphony
Bringing a derelict, roofless church back to life and converting it into a state-of-the-art recording studio for one of London's great orchestras was always going to take more than one weekend. The dead cows and eleven hundred corpses didn't help, either.
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FeaturesWindows 2002
In the age of the supercomputer, architects are looking back nearly 2000 years for inspiration. Thomas Lane examines two dramatic glazing projects that have used ancient materials to create an undeniably 21st-century effect
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FeaturesLiving in a Huf
If your idea of prefabricated housing is a sardine can with slits for windows, think again. Huf Haus has been building light, spacious factory-made homes for years – and they're great for key workers earning more than half a million pounds a year. Thomas Lane checks out the latest design ...
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FeaturesCovered in glory
It looked like Toyota City in Japan might never get a new sports ground when it failed to be picked as a World Cup venue. But instead it has been doubly blessed, gaining not only a spectacular stadium, but one with an ingenious air-powered retractable roof.
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FeaturesThe benchmark
Having already had one nightmare with a housing block refurbishment, Hackney council wasn't about to make the same mistakes. Thomas Lane found out how the team applied bitter experience to make its next project a triumph.
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FeaturesExperimenting with glue
Have you ever thought about attaching bricks with glue rather than mortar but were worried that your brickies might get stuck together, or it would cost twice as much? Well, a project in Bristol is discovering exactly what the advantages and disadvantages are.
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FeaturesGetting more from your floor
It may sound strange, but concrete in a floor slab is a workshy material – all the the middle bit does is keep the bits at the surface apart. So why not replace it with something lighter? Thomas Lane reports on the Danish invention that does just that
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FeaturesPart L: Time's up
By the time you get back to work after Easter, the new Part L of the Building Regulations will be in effect, and the chances are you won't be ready for it. The result could be completion dates blown away, teams turned upside down – even the end of design-and-build ...