Andy Cook Editorial
Building
Stories by this contributor.
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The Guggenheim gazebo
2000 Issue 14
Welcome to the spiral of New York's Guggenheim Museum transplanted to the centre of a Kew Gardens greenhouse redesigned by Salvador Dali and built in Hanover …
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East Anglia: Good, but not great
2000 Issue 09
Workloads in Cambridge and Norwich are good, but not spectacular. The market is healthy enough for contractor Fitzpatrick to set up an office to service Cambridge and Peterborough, and consultants in Cambridge reckon that workload is about 5% higher than last year. Stephen Bugg, a partner in Davis Langdon & Everest in Cambridge, says activity is matching last year’s high levels. Development driven by the university estates department and spin-off high-tech business parks is filtering throu
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East Midlands: Looking healthy
2000 Issue 09
It’s boom time in Nottingham. The market is doing well in all sectors. Universities are spending money, commercial developers are investing in town-centre schemes and business parks such as the Riverside and Phoenix, and developers are building sheds along the M1 between junctions 20 and 28. Ken Carter, partner in Gleeds’ Nottingham office, says the local market has grown about 10% on last year, and there are plenty of enquiries to sustain the growth. Transport is funding developm
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David Anderson
2000 Issue 07
The new group managing director of O'Rourke has a reputation in contracting that means the subbie is probably glad to have him on its side. So, what plans does he have for the firm?
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Anderson plans to expand O'Rourke
2000 Issue 06
Ex-Wimpey managing director joins subcontractor with brief to boost turnover to £400m.
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IT: Virtual company Liquid asset
2000 Issue 06
London architect Fluid Design doesn't have an office, but thanks to e-mail and mobile phones, it's finding that it doesn't need one. One day, all young design practices could work this way.
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Unipart called in to advise O’Rourke on productivity
2000 Issue 04
Superstructure contractor in talks with car parts firm in bid to boost efficiency on Docklands tower block.
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Firms are losing patience with MOD
2000 Issue 03
Contractors say they need “one prime contract a week” to keep their teams together.
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Modernism makes its mark on Walsall
2000 Issue 03
West Midlands is home to £25m new gallery designed by Caruso St John.
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NHS and Defence Estates to share know-how
1999 Issue 50
Defence Estates to advise health service on procurement but aims to learn over benchmarking.
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QSs vote to accept RICS Agenda for Change
1999 Issue 50
QSs perform volte-face after twice voting against radical restructuring of the institution.
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UK Athletics backs Foster's £475m Wembley design
1999 Issue 50
Sports bodies agree that temporary running track will enable stadium to host Olympic athletics.
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£40-a-voucher tax scheme ‘horrific’, says report
1999 Issue 49
Construction Confederation report says industry cannot bear costs in the long term.
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Government calms industry fears over PFI body
1999 Issue 49
Treasury secretary Andrew Smith assures industry that primary role of Partnerships UK will be advisory.
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Specialists fear abuse under self-certification plan
1999 Issue 49
Confederation of Construction Specialists warns that subcontractors will be hit by anti-cowboy measures.
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Work and playstation
1999 Issue 48
Fledgeling construction manager Exterior has been given the chance to prove itself on a £20m headquarters for computer games giant Electronic Arts. How is it coping?
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Eurostar sues over Waterloo defects
1999 Issue 47
Claim against Bovis, Grimshaw and Tarmac for faults in station’s glazed roof and walls could reach £10m.
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Retailers fund research on adopting Egan
1999 Issue 47
University analyses shop refurbishment procurement at Boots, Pizza Express, Arcadia and Borders.
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Top clients set to demand better-skilled suppliers
1999 Issue 47
UK clients expected to back motion requiring suppliers to be fully trained and certified or risk tendering ban.
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RICS ignores pleas to delay Agenda for Change vote
1999 Issue 46
QS division chief Pountney defeated in bid to postpone emergency meeting to be held in March.
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Tax scheme in trouble after one week
1999 Issue 46
Revenue officials launch review after claims that new scheme is costing industry "millions".
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High noon for RICS president Kolesar
1999 Issue 45
General council must settle stand-off with QS division to rescue Agenda for Change after negotiations break down.
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Prime contracts to include ‘onerous’ defects clause
1999 Issue 45
MOD abandons cash retentions, but introduces catch-all “fitness for purpose” clause.
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Projects hit by adjudication ambushes, say lawyers
1999 Issue 45
Contractors are facing mass notices from specialists taking advantage of firms’ short response time.
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Harmon to open way for flood of claims
1999 Issue 44
Cladding contractor’s victory in MPs’ building case casts doubt over government procurement policy.
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If Laing lost, who wins?
1999 Issue 44
Last week Laing joined the queue of major contractors opting out of competitive tendering, effectively giving £400m to its rivals. So, who is going to snap up all that extra turnover?
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NHS think-tank to dream up hospitals of the future
1999 Issue 44
NHS sets up high-powered body to look at construction design for 21st-century healthcare.
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Specialists call on state to stop withholding cash
1999 Issue 44
Government urged to set good example by ending cash retentions on public sector projects.
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Why Harmon won at Portcullis House
1999 Issue 44
A "buy British" policy, bullying by the construction manager and "misconduct" by an official seals victory for cladding contractor Harmon and raises questions over best-value procurement.
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Match Kajima, Asda tells framework contractors
1999 Issue 43
Retailer scrambles to drive down costs before new owner Wal-Mart takes over construction operations.
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Prime contracting pay plan sparks trouble
1999 Issue 43
Angry consultants say Defence Estates’ paid-when-pay proposal would put them at a disadvantage.
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QSs in revolt
1999 Issue 43
The RICS’ Agenda for Change took a year and 750 000 pieces of paper to formulate. President Simon Kolesar says it’ll make the institution a better servant of its members. Why, then, do QSs want the heads of their own organisation impaled on spikes at Great George Street?
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JCT set to tackle PFI contracts
1999 Issue 42
Contract-drafting body may shed traditionalist image by drafting forms for new-style procurement routes.
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£80m Edinburgh PFI school deal delayed
1999 Issue 41
Plan to build 12 schools and revamp three others put on hold for six months as council overhauls consultation process.
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QSs vote to reject RICS modernisation plans
1999 Issue 41
Profession complains that it will have one-third of membership but one-sixteenth of power.
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Mud, rain and jam hit industry half-marathon
1999 Issue 40
13-mile race around Windsor Great Park marred by deteriorating weather and traffic congestion.
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Specialists fear abuse under prime contracting
1999 Issue 40
Specialists ask Raynsford to set up regulatory agency to police behaviour of prime contractor.
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Union power is back
1999 Issue 40
Meet the revitalised unions. They can vet bidders for PFI projects, they can influence the Treasury on ownership of hospitals, they can change government policy on staff transferral. Can the PFI survive?
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Whitehall rejects union attack on PFI hospitals
1999 Issue 40
Unison report claims that £96m Durham hospital is poor value for money.
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Ministers refuse to budge over NHS staff transfers
1999 Issue 39
Contractors accuse government of moving goalposts over decision to allow trusts to keep staff.
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No hold-up with Rogers claims new minister
1999 Issue 39
DETR minister Beverley Hughes gives her first interview after her promotion in the summer reshuffle.
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Raynsford: State will fund anti-cowboy pilots
1999 Issue 39
Construction minister to stay in job as he seeks Labour nomination for mayor of London.
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MOD under fire over prime contracts
1999 Issue 38
Construction clashes with ministry over alleged lack of trust and payment terms.
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Railtrack winner Mott MacDonald fears shortages
1999 Issue 38
East Coast Mainline project manager warns of overheating after Railtrack awards £10.7bn contracts.
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Schal beats rivals to £150m estate maintenance job
1999 Issue 38
Mace and Bovis pipped in race for five-year deal to manage refurbishment of 20 000 homes in east London.
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Spectacular comeback
1999 Issue 37
A £26m cost overrun, a redesign and a row have wreaked havoc at the flagship venue for the Rugby World Cup. But they are all behind it now – just two weeks before the first match.
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Andrew Wolstenholme
1999 Issue 35
Six months after ditching half a dozen of its framework contractors and consultants, can BAA's construction director regain the trust of the industry?
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Dream factories
1999 Issue 34
How up-and-coming architect Ash Sakula turned a former mill into elegant offices and added an eye-catching spiral staircase to a rubber mat factory.
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Sainsbury construction chief in shock departure
1999 Issue 34
Partnering innovator Charles Johnston considers setting up his own firm after quitting on Monday.
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Delay tax reforms until 2000, plead specialists
1999 Issue 33
Small contractors turn to government to stop new CIS tax system killing businesses.
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Salford wins silver
1999 Issue 29
Salford's steel-clad arts centre may not shimmer quite like Gehry's Guggenheim, but the complex lottery scheme is successfully attracting development and staying within its budget.
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Franklin & Andrews moves into FM to boost fees
1999 Issue 28
Top five quantity surveyor restructures to offer facilities management to clients.
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Gleeds in quick fit call centre venture
1999 Issue 28
QS hooks up with car parts supplier Unipart to produce cheap, off-the-shelf call centres.
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Measuring for real
1999 Issue 27
The key performance indicators could change the way clients select firms, but are they up to the job? Building asked Gardiner & Theobald to test them on real-life projects.
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What difference does a year make?
1999 Issue 27
Did the Egan report really announce a cultural revolution in construction? As a conference prepares to mull over the changes one year on, Building analyses the response of both industry and clients.
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Taking off
1999 Issue 21
Disenchanted with central government’s approach to the private finance initiative? There is a solution. Local authority PFI is getting airborne at Luton Airport and Bovis has just signed the first purely commercial contract.
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Access all areas
1999 Issue 19
Taylor Woodrow, construction manager at Gatwick Airport, has created an intranet that lays open every facet of the job for every subcontractor and consultant to see.
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How do you measure up?
1999 Issue 19
Long-awaited details of the government's initiative to help firms gauge their performance in the industry have been released this week. Here's how to work out if you're hitting those Egan targets.
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Trust funds
1999 Issue 19
London housing association the Peabody Trust spends £50m on construction every year. And if you are an innovative architect or a time-saving sustainable contractor, it wants to hear from you.
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Student demo
1999 Issue 17
The University of East London's new campus is the Egan demonstration project everyone is watching. With six months to go, the race is on to prove that its innovations work.
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The roaring twenties
1999 Issue 16
1999's Hays Montrose/Building consultants salary guide suggests that if you're young and gifted, the chances are you're also getting richer in a hurry. Engineers and architectural technologists are included for the first time.
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A new dimension
1999 Issue 15
If Ray Crotty ruled the world, IT would revolutionise the construction industry and all buildings would be designed in 3D.
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Construction’s second chance
1999 Issue 15
Next week, the industry has the opportunity to boost its public image. With a barrage of events planned for National Construction Week, will the event be more of a hit this year than last?
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What's the score?
1999 Issue 15
Five years after it opened, the McAlpine Stadium is still regarded as a class player among football grounds.
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Pros and coms
1999 Issue 13
Faced with a large and complex project for BAA, QS Currie & Brown developed its own software package – ProCom – to keep track of cost changes. How does it work?
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The benchmark
1999 Issue 12
[Asda superstore, Mansfield] The third in Building's series highlighting best practice looks at how Laing completed the Mansfield Asda store under budget, thanks to detailed monitoring of productivity. A panel of experts looks at how it was done.
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It's a hard life
1999 Issue 11
Laing has a tough job on its hands creating the International Centre for Life. A steel frame that flexes to cope with the earth's elements is topped by the complex curves of an asymmetric roof.
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Art and power
1999 Issue 09
Beset by nightmarish construction difficulties, the transformation of Bankside power station to the new Tate gallery looks set to be completed on budget – and may even meet its 18 June deadline.
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Windows 99
1999 Issue 08
An extensively glazed headquarters for US software giant Computer Associates has a distinctive W shape that is refreshingly different from the usual corporate boxes.
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Whose line is it anyway?
1999 Issue 07
For its Glasgow headquarters, BT took no chances and put in its own team to shadow the developer's consultants, with the power to halt the project. Not everyone was happy.
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Part L: how tough will it be?
1999 Issue 05
The DETR is consulting on proposals to radically upgrade the energy efficiency of every building in the UK. What will the effects be of the Building Regulations' new Part L?
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Detailed planning improves productivity
1999 Issue 04
The project to build the seventh baggage reclaim extension at Heathrow Terminal 4 was completed for £225 000 less than the original cost plan. When agreed client variations are added, this represents a saving of 9.7%. The project was also completed in 30 weeks – six weeks ahead of schedule – and with only 41 agreed defects at handover.Construction manager Mace puts the savings down to the use of Activity Based Planning. This is a system for planning and monitoring the work of subc
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Scottish councils to spend £190m on PFI schools
1999 Issue 04
Edinburgh leads the way with £80m investment in new-build and refurbishment.
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The benchmark
1999 Issue 04
Heathrow Airport, Terminal 4 The second in Building's series highlighting best practice looks at how Egan targets can be measured. The project is a £3.8m baggage reclaim area at Heathrow's Terminal 4. Construction manager Mace completed the project early and under budget, thanks to its detailed monitoring system, Activity Based Planning. Experts assess Mace's performance and, Building asks how different performance indicators measure up.
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Green scheme
1999 Issue 03
The latest design package can help decide the viability of low-energy schemes at an early stage in development.
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Solar power to the people
1999 Issue 03
Energy efficiency:Thin-film photovoltaics Photovoltaic panels boost green credentials, but recouping their cost has always been a problem. Now, thin-film technology, coming to the UK for the first time in Canon UK's HQ, is set to change all that.
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What is sustainable construction, exactly?
1999 Issue 03
The DETR's mantra for 1999 is sustainable construction. But what exactly is it? Who is responsible for it and what can it do for you? Building provides some answers.
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Bunsen earner
1999 Issue 02
Extra funding for scientific research facilities has boosted the higher education market, now worth £700m a year. Contractors and consultants with experience of the sector will get the big contracts, but there will be work for all on the smaller jobs.
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No-go area
1999 Issue 01
Clients and consultants are at odds over who should carry the risks in restoring decontaminated land. Inconsistent interpretations of the law do little to help.
