Supporting student welfare

How can student accommodation create spaces that help promote wellbeing, combat isolation and prioritise community? Neil Smith from Scape gives some answers A student’s experience can be substantially impacted by their choice in accommodation while at university. Whether students decide... View Article

No time to waste

Carole Armstrong from Delabie provides specification advice to help schools increase hygiene levels while reducing water wastage, especially following building closures during the pandemic Social distancing, hand hygiene, Legionella prevention – the new academic year poses some serious challenges. Welcoming... View Article

Permanent protection

With the increased use of outside educational spaces now acutely in focus, Fraser Dixon from Fordingbridge explores how they can be specified with more robust solutions that support social distancing Following the full reopening of schools and colleges following the... View Article

A new era for acoustics?

As schools return to some sort of normality, the time is right to examine the upcoming changes to acoustics standards, says Paul Absolon from CMS Danskin Acoustics For the uninitiated, BB93 performance standards are a government initiative created to ensure... View Article

Flat-out waterproofing success

Victoria Ramwell of Kemper System explains how liquid waterproofing solutions offer the long-term solutions that education buildings need for flat roofs, and the key considerations for specifiers Whether as part of a refurbishment or new build, waterproofing flat roofs on... View Article

Passive learnings

Natural materials have been carefully transplanted by Architype into London’s leafy suburbia to create the UK’s largest school designed to Passivhaus specifications to date. Sébastien Reed reports With state secondary schools in the London Borough of Sutton (LBS) experiencing an... View Article

A timber oasis

Sheppard Robson’s timber pavilion created in Manchester’s Spinningfields commercial district offers a contrasting distraction, with an exposed frame and richly textured elevations harking back to colonial buildings. James Parker reports Spinningfields is Manchester’s biggest commercial district, home to a clutch... View Article

Watertight concepts

Christopher Burbridge from Delta Membranes looks at the importance of concrete in below ground waterproofing, and the key factors for achieving a robust specification The restrictions Covid-19 will inflict on the construction industry, and how the pandemic might influence how... View Article

Cradle to compliance

Peter Rigby at Cellecta proposes a simple way to achieve high levels of acoustic insulation to meet Part E in concrete floors, while providing acceptable tolerances It is not uncommon to experience uneven substrates in both new and existing concrete floors,... View Article

Closing the gap on acoustic performance

Joe Cilia from finishes and interiors trade body FIS looks at how a new initiative helps improve the quality of interior acoustics through specifying and installing products based on proven and verified test data It is in all our interests... View Article

A safe bet for aesthetics and efficiency

With efficiency and aesthetics and well as safety being top priorities in domestic settings, Mark Lester of Hörmann UK discusses the key features fire doors need to have for residential projects The safety and security of property and its occupants... View Article

Cladding fit for the future

With the Government targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, Paul Richards from Aquarian Cladding Systems looks at why brick cladding systems might prove to be an ideal solution With architects under pressure to be cleaner, faster, and safer, one of... View Article

Exploring current thinking in offsite construction

Offsite construction is hailed as the answer to the construction industry’s most pressing problems, including speed of delivery, the ‘performance gap’ in quality, and an increasing skills shortage. With the Government having set a goal of 300,000 new homes per... View Article

View Point: Richard Hyams

With a growing focus on achieving a green economic recovery from the pandemic, sustainability-focused technologies present a major opportunity to reduce waste while driving cost savings for designers and occupiers, says Richard Hyams Architects are increasingly drawing on AI and... View Article

Escaping the pastiche

Wimshurst Pelleriti, the architects behind a renovation and extension of a historic office building in London, explain how the practice pushed for a modern addition, rather than a proposed ‘pastiche’. Jack Wooler speaks to Leo Pelleriti In a compact site... View Article

Design in a time of Covid

The Covid-19 pandemic has posed major challenges to architects to modify their working methods in order to sustain business. Tom Boddy reports on how they have adjusted to a ‘new normal’ After the stringent lockdown restrictions were imposed by the... View Article

Site Lines: Combining cultures

Velimira Drummer of Stantec UK looks at how to mesh corporate identity with a tailored workplace culture when designing spaces for an international client, particularly in the current crisis As an interior architect, my role is not only to consider... View Article

Sustainability, style and substance

Latest research from Waterwise estimates that over 2 billion litres of water is used each day across Britain through showering, the equivalent to almost 800 Olympic size swimming pools. With the Environment Agency predicting an extra 3.6 billion litres of... View Article

It’s time for timber!

Despite being commonly used within a wide range of building projects, timber still fights against the misconception that it’s too flammable for use as a construction material. Whilst timber does burn, the material is able to provide the highest levels... View Article