Education
The secret schools report
Exclusive: Government holds back more vital schools data
Industry slams continuing secrecy after Building reveals raft of post-occupancy findings
Exclusive: Contractors' PFI school payments tied to green targets
Conditions to be imposed on PFI contracts as post-occupancy research shows schools failing on sustainability
The secret schools report: Failings are all too familiar
The post-occupancy evaluation, leaked to Building, contains some depressingly familiar statistics
The secret schools report: Learning from the past
The government wouldn’t reveal its post-occupancy review of schools - so Building will
News
BAM details £51m in schools work
New projects include Bristol and Bucks academies plus primary school
Comment
Eco standards in schools are slipping
Michael Gove’s free schools were meant to rip through red tape. But it’s not just the curriculum that has been relaxed - increasingly, sustainability and space requirements are being dropped too. Now fears are growing that this latest austerity measure could spread to all new schools, as Allister Hayman reports
We can deliver cost-effective schools while keeping BREEAM
The subtext to the debate over scrapping the BREEAM standard for school buildings is that it costs too much, but, says Sean Lockie, that ignores our ability to deliver schools efficiently
Features
University Technical Colleges: Dumbing down
Until January of this year, University Technical Colleges were fast gaining favour as a way of attracting new talent into our industry. Then, out of the blue, education secretary Michael Gove downgraded vocational qualifications, putting the feasibility of the programme in question. Building asks whether the government is making a dunce of construction
From 1900 to 2012: Finishing the University of Birmingham
Aston Webb’s grand semi-circle of buildings conceived for Birmingham university in 1900 was the original redbrick campus. But only four of its five neo-Byzantine pavilions were ever built. Now Glenn Howells Architects and Bam have finished the job. Building reports
BSF expert panel
Replay our live online Q&A session
Education data
Cost model: Standardised schools
As the James Review made clear, the future of schoolbuilding lies with low-cost standard solutions, much as it did in the fifties. Darren Talbot and Stuart Francis of Davis Langdon, an Aecom company, offer an overview of this burgeoning market and consider the costs
Case studies
Design visuals
Skanska wins £25m Bath Spa University job
Firm beat off competition from Bam, Cowlin, Leadbitter and Sir Robert McAlpine to win the project
Shepherd Construction wins £12m Grantham academy job
The project in Grantham will include demolition of the current building and construction of a new two storey block
Bruntwood to deliver £60m Manchester Business School development
BDP-masterplanned project will include a four-star hotel, conference venue and education centre
