RICS responds to the council house building announcement

Lewis Johnston, RICS Parliamentary Affairs Manager: “It is over 65 years since a Conservative Conference committed the party to delivering 300,000 homes a year. With today’s housing challenge no less urgent, the Prime Minister’s plan to unleash the first major... View Article

Site Lines – The real value of human-centred design

‘Human-centred’ buildings offering users better technology or greater material comfort will always be the exception rather than the rule as they are costly and challenging. This is a perception Atkins is trying to counter, as Rebecca Wicks reports. The needs... View Article

View Point – Dr Andy Lewry of BRE Global

Dr Andy Lewry of BRE Global outlines his strategy for better integrated design and build processes that use modelling to address the ‘Performance Gap’. As we drive the performance of our building stock, it is becoming clear that one of... View Article

Editor’s Comment – October

Why can’t we build the public housing we need in the UK? While the higher-end homes sector continues to boom (despite a slight downturn in London), the solutions for achieving our dreams of tackling the crisis at the other end,... View Article

Timber in Architecture Supplement 2017 – Editor’s comment

Sustainable, healthy, beautiful, endlessly forgiving and flexible for building with, what’s not to like about wood? While it may not be suitable for absolutely every type of construction, its enduring –  and resurgent – popularity is now seeing timber appear... View Article

The social housing self-service revolution

Peter Graddon, director of Omfax Systems, providers of Keyfax, dynamic scripting solutions for the social housing sector. Customer service in social housing is undergoing a dramatic digital transformation, with the growth of multi-channel contact centres and online self-service tools, which... View Article

Comment: Get specification right first time

The Metal Cladding and Roofing Manufacturers Association explains the importance of approved cladding systems and the dangers of changing specifications. Metal cladding systems provide efficient, aesthetically pleasing and sustainable solutions for a wide variety of external building envelopes. However, the... View Article

5 genius ways shipping containers are used every day

If you think shipping containers are only used for imports and exports around the world, it’s time to think again. While shipping containers play a vital role transporting the products that we enjoy every day, they can also be used... View Article

Getting the most from extensions

The increasing costs of moving due to stamp duty and mortgages, combined with the unrelenting hassle of dealing with broadband and utility companies, mean more of us are realising that extensions are the best solution to our housing conundrums. The... View Article

A quality double act; roof windows and blinds

Daylight is one of the holy grails of modern living. Bright, well-lit spaces have clear health and well-being benefits. In short they make us feel good and unsurprisingly this is something we want from our homes. In this quest for... View Article

Bringing light home

Chris Chaney of Sunsquare explains how rooflights can improve daylighting, boost wellbeing and minimise a building’s energy consumption. Spiralling property prices plus a lack of appropriate accommodation to move into have led to many homeowners preferring to carry out significant... View Article

Realistic rainwater storage

Ian Crickmore of Polypipe Terrain explains how adopting rainwater harvesting systems can provide sustainable drainage solutions in space-constrained urban areas. Obsessing over rain is something of a national pastime, but capturing rainwater could help meet sites’ increased drainage demands, particularly... View Article