All articles by Thomas Lane – Page 30
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FeaturesA view from the gods
Looking out over this nondescript part of Leicester, and almost entirely suspended from this roof, will be the UK’s most exciting new theatre – and the first building in this country to be designed by US architect Rafael Viñoly.
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NewsDebate erupts over Colindale blaze
A debate has broken out over whether the insulation used at a timber-frame construction site in Colindale, north London, was responsible for the rapid spread of a fire.
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NewsZEDshop to undercut green grants
Bill Dunster's new venture promises to make renewable energy products cheaper than those procured through grant schemes
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NewsTimber-frame firms defend their corner after blaze
Sales unaffected by July’s Colindale fire, say manufacturers – and safer systems are on the way
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FeaturesFoster joins the pod people
This Toronto university faculty looks like a tribute to Will Alsop, but it’s a very Foster building, too
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Features‘I can’t tell you on the hoof what our policy would be’
Finding out where David Cameron stands on the big questions is a tricky matter, but at least he is starting by putting his own house in order. Thomas Lane spoke exclusively to the Tory leader, then met the architect and builder who are tackling the green makeover of his family ...
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FeaturesFour months ago Building launched the 99% Campaign to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings.
Now two reports have backed our call for financial incentives for building owners. The question is: what would work?
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FeaturesThis is madness
On the average job, contractors happily chuck away enough recyclable material to triple their profit. But not for much longer, if the DTI, environmental responsibility and economic sanity have any bearing on the matter.
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FeaturesRegs revisited
Building’s Reform the Regs campaign kicked off a year ago with the aim of defeating baffling, contradictory and constrictive red tape. Thomas Lane casts his eye over the progress made and finds that things are getting simpler, which can only mean better
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NewsPart L compliance software rereleased following criticism
The new version of SBEN features easier data entry, simpler ventilation figures and a more accurate database
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FeaturesGods of the Plague
They gave Shepherd Construction a two-sheet brief and asked it to build a lab secure enough to test the most dangerous virus on Earth … inside six months. Thomas Lane reports on how the team took the test and triumphed
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NewsDCLG poised to appoint new head of Building Regs
Shona Dunn is set to succeed Anne Hemming in January, Mark Coulshed is made interim head
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FeaturesA 2bn student village in a bullet-proof vest
Construction of the first entire garrison to be built in 100 years is being marshalled with the same discipline and tactical precision needed in times of war.
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NewsLondon’s new garden suburb
The first shoots of new development are emerging from the brownfields of North Kent. Building’s technical editor wonders if he’d ever be tempted to leave Greenwich for Ebbsfleet
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FeaturesLearning to speak European
Don’t be caught out by the harmonised European standards that are replacing the UK’s specifier-friendly national standards.
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NewsReform the regs: Update
When Building began its campaign to sort out the impossible mess that built environment regulation had become, it received immediate support from practically everyone who had to comply with it, enforce it or devise it. Thomas Lane explains what happened next …
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FeaturesLife after la corrida
Barcelona’s disused Las Arenas bullring is being transformed from a crumbling wreck into Richard Rogers’ vision for a leisure and entertainment venue, topped out with a UFO-style roof.
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FeaturesHansom’s other good idea
The Builder was his masterpiece, but nine years before it was born, Joseph Aloysius Hansom designed a civic temple for the proud city of Birmingham. Unlike the magazine you’re holding, it hasn’t aged well. Thomas Lane reports on the town hall’s long-awaited refurbishment
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FeaturesHow green is Building’s building?
By now, there should be an energy certification scheme in place for office buildings, but there isn’t. So Thomas Lane organised one for Ludgate House, the home of Building. Here’s what we found …
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FeaturesA typical guzzling, leaking, seeping, spewing british home
To highlight the energy inefficiency at the heart of the UK’s existing housing stock, Thomas Lane took energy consultant Cathy Hough to inspect a typical south London terraced house, built 100 years before the latest revision to Part L. It wasn’t pretty …