All Case studies articles – Page 18
-
FeaturesQatar's zero carbon stadium: 96 degrees in the shade
Qatar wants to host the 2022 World Cup. But first it has to convince FIFA that the game can even be played in a Qatari summer. So it got Arup Associates to create a micro-climate inside a 500-seat test stadium. Cool.
-
FeaturesSikh place of worship: The gurus of Gravesend
A cash-strapped project to build a Sikh place of worship in Gravesend procured the large marble domes, arched windows and highly ornate stonework from India - and saved more than £2m along the way
-
FeaturesLaboratory of Molecular Biology: Master of science
The Medical Research Council’s new chromosome-shaped lab in Cambridge is an example of how attention to detail and planning can deliver complex buildings on time and to budget
-
NewsThe use of force: Building information modelling
Building information modelling may make everything better, but most firms don’t want to use it. But that might change now the government plans to make it compulsory on all public projects. Stephen Kennett reports
-
FeaturesArena Stage, Washington by Bing Thom: Through a glass darkly
Peer closely and you’ll make out not one theatre behind that glass facade, but three. It’s Bing Thom Architects’ audacious response to the need to make artistic and architectural sense of two dysfunctional theatres in a deprived area of Washington DC. Ike Ijeh was wowed
-
FeaturesGilt trip: Refurbishing the Savoy hotel
The refurbished Savoy hotel looks a million dollars - which is just as well because it cost more than £200m to do up. Happily nobody was to blame for the cost and time overruns - except possibly the owner’s insatiably lavish tastes
-
FeaturesThe future looks rosy: Sheffield's Park Hill estate
Urban Splash’s refurb of a listed sixties council estate is turning one of the republic of South Yorkshire’s biggest problems into an aspirational address
-
FeaturesSenseless acts of beauty
Foreign Office’s art college in north Greenwich is a beguiling mix of randomness, order and commercial astuteness
-
FeaturesCost of school refurbishment: case study
They might not have the glamour of new-build, but refurbishments, such as this one at Castle Hill school in Kent, have their wow factor too - nowhere more so than on price. Ike Ijeh sums it up
-
NewsEmpire State Building window refurb: The empire strikes back
Manhattan’s Empire State Building is leaking air and carbon by the tonne. But a project to reduce heat loss and solar gain from its 6,514 windows has raised its green credentials - and drastically lowered its energy bill
-
FeaturesMaglev high-speed trains: London to manchester in 55 minutes
Magnetically levitating trains are faster and quieter than high-speed trains, use less energy and take up a lot less space. So why is this technology still waiting on the platform?
-
FeaturesRehousing animals: First catch your vole
The London Gateway port will handle 3.5 million containers a year and is a huge construction undertaking. But an added complication is the relocation of thousands of animals that inhabit the area - at a cost of £50m
-
FeaturesBrockholes floating visitor centre: Tread lightly
The designers of a new visitor centre for Brockholes wetland nature reserve plan to float the facilities in the middle of a lake - while ruffling as few feathers as possible
-
FeaturesInsulation retrofit: Sealing the house
So how do you get a leaky Edwardian building to be so airtight that it can be heated with a single towel rail? Robert Prewett, the architect behind the retrofit, takes us through the project’s first steps …
-
FeaturesTerry Farrell's Regent's Place: Regent’s spark
Sir Terry Farrell’s Regent’s Place is the fruition of a vision that should kick-start the regeneration of one of London’s more grisly thoroughfares. Ike Ijeh reports
-
FeaturesChatham Dockyard's salvage operation
Returning a wrecked building to public use is tough enough at the best of times, but when your main contractor goes under, the pressure piles on. Stephen Kennett hears how Chatham Dockyard overcame adversity to open its new cultural hub for the summer tourist season
-
FeaturesKazakhstan: Building the world's largest tent
In the capital of Kazakhstan, Buro Happold, Foster + Partners and developer Sembol have built the world’s largest tent. And their heroic attempts to heave that 90m mast upright are enough to make fair-weather campers weep
-
Features2012 countdown: The aquatics centre
Since the aquatics centre’s 160m-long roof was lowered into place last year, work on the Zaha Hadid-designed venue has continued to power ahead
-
Features2012 countdown: The temporary basketball venue
The Olympics may need a basketball venue the size of an aeroplane hanger, but London can probably get by without one after they’re over. So they’ve made the whole thing demountable
-
Features2012 countdown: Infrastructure
The Olympics isn’t just about show-stopping stadiums. In fact, the budget for venues is £700m less than the cost of the no-frills enabling works, roads and utilities