Preparing your house to become more saleable

When people sell family home, they want the best price possible. The value of a property sale will largely depend on the building design and land included. However, there are small changes you can make to improve the offers you... View Article

Making your home safe for your baby

Bringing home a new baby is a joyful occasion, but with everything else on your mind at this critical time, it’s easy to forget that your home might hold some hidden hazards for that infant. Things that are minor concerns... View Article

The future of home accessibility

While accessibility has come on leaps and bounds over the years, seven in every 10 people believe that their homes would not be accessible to wheelchair users according to a YouGov poll. With 8.2 million households also set to house... View Article

Engineering for the future: Retirement living

The number of Britons aged 65 and over is expected to increase more than 40 per cent by 2040. A significant figure, it makes me question whether, with the knowledge and technology available to us today, we’re doing enough to... View Article

Five ways to make your home more energy efficient

When considering home improvements such as extensions or upgrading fixtures, it can be easy to overlook energy efficient ratings when making these changes. Not only this, but there are many smaller changes homeowners can make to save energy and decrease... View Article

The future for smart home EV charging solutions

One way or another we all take advantage of the rapid growth of all the useful technology available to us today. It’s the snowball effect; as soon as some new scientific wonder is released so an improved version appears. From... View Article

Adaptive reuse, realised

LISTEN HERE Ben Heath, principal at Grimshaw, looks at how the practice returned to the Herman Miller factory in Bath to realise its original design intent of adaptive reuse, and harness the building’s flexibility to create a new school of... View Article

Waterproofing historic builds

Specialists must collaborate when preserving historic buildings. Richard Walker of Peter Cox explains Almost half a million buildings in the UK have heritage protection. This status is awarded to buildings of historical interest across the country, either for the role... View Article

IP Ratings: the facts. A simple guide to IP ratings

The term IP rating or ingress protection is used to define the level of protection provided by a casing or enclosure. The term is published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and allows enclosure manufacturers to clearly label their product... View Article

View Point: Professor Ruth Dalton

Having set up the first School of Architecture at Lancaster University, Professor Ruth Dalton explains how the school’s ‘radical creativity with a conscience’ motto embeds key principles into innovative teaching practice While setting up the new school of architecture at... View Article

Practice Profile: Samira Rathod Design Atelier

James Parker finds out how the award-winning firm of Indian architect Samira Rathod pursues its goals of creating sensual, context-focused beauty using locally-sourced natural materials Mumbai-based architect Samira Rathod attended the renowned Sir J. J. College of Architecture in the... View Article

Ecodesign Stoves and the Clean Air Strategy

2019 Clean Air Strategy In January 2019 the UK government published its Clean Air Strategy in which it stated that that the “increase in burning solid fuels (wood and coal) in our homes (domestic burning) is having an impact on... View Article

Floor tiles and tiles that look like wood

Explore the different options of floor tiles and how you can achieve the natural look with the tiles that look like wood. Floors are such a primary element that just putting a roof over it can create the primary structure... View Article

Addressing a national problem

Nicolas Maari of multi-disciplinary firm Pellings looks at the challenges for designers around providing interim accommodation for the homeless Homelessness is an ongoing and growing problem, with the number of homeless people increasing by a third between 2012 and 2018.... View Article

Ask the Architect: Alberto Basaglia

Alberto Basaglia, co-founder of Italian firm Basaglia + Rota Nodari Studio, answers ADF’s questions on what influences his designs, the importance of balance, and sustainability Why did you become an architect? When I was a kid, I made a sofa-exercise-bike... View Article

A clearer view of safety

Listen here. Among the functions performed by glass and glazing systems as part of the building envelope, fire safety and protecting lives are critical. Darren Wainwright of SE Controls explains systems’ roles in addressing smoke control and compliance issues Within... View Article