Bringing SKA back to school

Joe Croft, head of environmental and sustainability at Overbury, examines a challenging environmental assessment method for higher education fit-outs. There is a real desire for environmental sustainability within the higher education sector. To address that, the SKA for higher education... View Article

A tax guide for architects

Sumit Agarwal, a specialist accountant and tax adviser for freelancers, contractors and small businesses, shares some pointers about tax for architects and interior designers. In the past, architects used to work as unincorporated partnerships, but in 2000, the Limited Liability... View Article

Designing a home for life

Inclusive design can help adapt homes to cater for the needs of an ageing population, writes Barry Eagle of anti-slip flooring solutions supplier GripClad. According to a YouGov poll, more than four in 10 Londoners aged over 55 believe they... View Article

Offsite for sore eyes

Often seen as the panacea for the housing crisis, is offsite construction methodology able to live up to its potential in terms of design quality as well as volume? Teo Lyubomirova spoke to four architects to hear their views. Imagine... View Article

Editor’s Comment – May

Since the somewhat surprising (or not) announcement of a general election by Theresa May, unsurprisingly the debate and political sparring has mainly been around the subject of Brexit. This election, whether Labour likes it or not, is going to be... View Article

Don’t break the chain

Phil Savage of Pilkington United Kingdom explores the use of structural glazing in modern building design and explains why the ‘value chain’ is integral to successfully fulfilling an architect’s vision. Structural glazing is a common feature of architectural projects across... View Article

Practice Profile – Märraum Architects

James Parker spoke to an emerging young practice to find out how they got off the ground in Cornwall, including putting a focus on using virtual reality to give clients exactly what they want. Märraum Architects is an exciting new... View Article

Viewpoint – Nigel Ostime from Hawkins/Brown

Nigel Ostime from Hawkins\Brown gives his views on the barriers to quality in the planning and procurement process, and how they could be broken down. Architects will tell you there is intrin- sic value in good design. Quality is delivered... View Article

Editor’s Comment – April

The launch of Herzog & de Meuron’s major new 58-storey apartment block in Canary Wharf, One Park Drive, was somewhat overshadowed by some fairly stark words on Brexit from Sir George Iacobescu, chairman of developer Canary Wharf Group. Speaking after... View Article

Design for life

The concept of creating ‘generative spaces’ is leading to a significant evolution in the approach to healthcare design, according to Heather Fennimore of ergonomic design specialist Humanscale. Here she explains the thinking behind the idea. In 2003 forward-thinking American architect... View Article

What’s in a label?

While BREEAM has made significant progress in many areas of the built environment, it is struggling to have the same impact in healthcare. So is a new approach needed to incentivise sustainable design? Mott MacDonald’s UK healthcare lead Gordon Hudson... View Article

Future Watch – Teodora Lyumbomirova on acoustics

With the housing crisis forcing developers to build homes at higher density, Teodora Lyubomirova examines how architects and clients need to look beyond the limitations of current regulations to achieve good acoustics Since the last substantial change to Approved Document... View Article

Editor’s comment – March

It may have been a battleground since time immemorial, but recently the territory between architects and ‘heritage’ groups has seen some fierce exchanges. Added to this however have been  unusually heated words directed by architects against their peers. Never one to... View Article

View Point – Sonal Rathod from PLP

Sonal Rathod from PLP comments on the impact that Brexit is having on the firm, which currently employs a large number of EU staff. Employees from the EU bring a breadth of international experience and different schools of thought to... View Article

An education in modular buildings

Andy King of Wernick Buildings gives a lesson in how modular construction can delivering the extra space schools need for the future, without added disruption. With pupil numbers in UK schools forecasted to increase over the coming years, space is... View Article