Chris Wise
A moving experience
Why wasn’t construction at the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Global Grand Challenges Summit?
Sustainability is for sharing
Establishing a new educational model for sustainable building design could be a smart idea, but only if the whole industry works on it together, says Chris Wise
Gus Alexander
How I learned to love part L
The Building Regulations - it hardly needs saying - must be greeted with fear and loathing. But oddly, says Gus Alexander, they can instil a feeling approximating joy - if only for 10 seconds
Country matters
For the architect, the country offers variety, novelty and the prospect of tanned craftsmen toiling in the wolds. But if you want control over a project, stick to the city
Amanda Levete
Rulers were made for…
You can’t measure the value of design with any kind of measuring stick - and anyone who suggests you can deserves a rap on the knuckles
Why we should train architects on the job
Higher education is going to become increasingly inaccessible, so why don’t we create ways of training while working
Richard Steer
Construction activity: Light and shade
On the one hand, construction activity is at its lowest level in 14 years. On the other, there are some signs of a slowly improving situation - that’s if you’ve survived this long
My beef with the Budget
Richard Steer laments a speech that offers no real nourishment to the industry and, what is worse, shows the chancellor to be deaf to the demands of construction
Nick Raynsford
No sense of direction
In this month’s Budget the chancellor needs to address the disastrously low levels of housebuilding with, says Nick Raynsford, a radical reallocation of current funding
The New Homes Bonus: Home truths
The coalition’s much vaunted New Homes Bonus to increase housebuilding is falling victim to perverse incentives, lazy definitions and unsustainable cost
Michael Latham
You can’t ditch the indispensable
We’ll soon know whether the government intends to sell off ConstructionSkills. Whatever happens, our industry will still insist on a levy to pay for training, says Sir Michael Latham
When will they ever learn?
Despite the abundance of evidence that good clients get cheaper projects, many still insist on lowest price and highest cost. Councils, for example. Sir Michael Latham asks, why?
Steven Morgan
The right kind of bribe: BAA's Steven Morgan on project roles
Roles and expectations should be set in stone before a project starts. And if you really want a good job done, says Steven Morgan, add some sweeteners into the mix
Kevin Cammack
God help the first-time buyer
They won’t be getting a lot of assistance from banks, government, housebuilders or themselves. And that’s not good news for the rest of the market
The balfour beatty phenomenon
This contractor’s acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff will be prompting its rivals to ask whether expansion might be a far-sighted strategy in tough times
Greg Verhoef
How planning can save you money
We can save costs by advanced organisation and getting those involved in a project to work together, says Greg Verhoef. But alas, we’re missing opportunities to get the best out of each other
So this is sharing the pain?
Everybody is asking everybody else for a discount just when they are least able to offer one. We all end up losing out and undermining the relationships we need if we are to thrive
