All Innovation articles – Page 2

  • Features

    District heating: The heart of the community

    2010-01-15T00:00:00Z

    District heating could hold the key for greening the UK’s existing homes. So why, when the technology exists and is used throughout Europe, do we still rely on individual systems?

  • Features

    Open-plan flats: Opening up

    2009-12-11T00:00:00Z

    There’s pent-up demand for open-plan flats, but fire safety rules make it difficult for them to get approval. Giving designers a set of templates to follow that include sprinklers and enhanced detection systems could be the answer

  • Features

    Building pathology: Photovoltaic panels

    2009-11-27T00:00:00Z

    Photovoltaic panels can be great energy providers, as long as an eye is kept on potential problems with power output and deficiencies. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance explains what to look out for

  • Features

    Building pathology: Water ingress

    2009-10-30T00:00:00Z

    Water penetration can be a problem for brick walls – even if a cavity is included to prevent moisture reaching the building interior

  • Sheppard Robson has transformed an aircraft hangar at Cranfield university into an academic building, lighting it by inserting northlights into the original sawtooth roof
    Features

    Who turned the lights off? The Part L rooflight resurgence

    2009-10-02T00:00:00Z

    Proposals for the revised Part L of the Building Regulations could lead to a resurgence in rooflights

  • News

    Building pathology: Air permeability

    2009-09-18T00:00:00Z

    Reducing air leakage is a cost-effective way of improving a building’s energy efficiency and reducing bills.

  • Features

    Triple-glazing: Make mine a triple

    2009-09-04T00:00:00Z

    There are notable precedents when it come to adding a third layer to things. But should the principle be applied to windows?

  • Features

    Green cement: reforming the carbon criminals

    2009-07-31T00:00:00Z

    Examining the latest attempts to find greener formulas for one of the world’s biggest carbon criminals – cement

  • Good example: York St John University’s quadrangle building
    Features

    Knotty problem: when cladding goes bad

    2009-07-03T00:00:00Z

    Every man and his dog seem to be using timber for cladding. Well, it does look great. But without proper installation and maintenance, you could be in for a nasty surprise

  • Features

    Tubular belge: Buro Happold's steel shopping centre

    2009-05-22T00:00:00Z

    Buro Happold’s roof for Liège’s new shopping centre takes the form of a 400m-long steel snake, which undulates to dramatically different heights. Stephen Kennett finds out how it was done

  • Features

    On repeat: standardised flooring

    2009-05-08T00:00:00Z

    What if all aspects of flooring were as standardised as linoleum? Chloe Stothart reports on a drive to create a general specification for floor cassettes that could have consequences for all off-site modules

  • Features

    Building pathology: Screeds

    2009-05-08T00:00:00Z

    A problem with a cement-sand screed can put an entire floorspace out of action. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance examines how it happens – and how it can be put right

  • Double glazing isn’t always a suitable prescription for thermally inefficient older buildings
    Features

    Something for the panes: vacuum glazing

    2009-04-24T00:00:00Z

    Double glazing isn’t always a suitable prescription for thermally inefficient older buildings, particularly in conservation areas where the original style has to be maintained. Could a slimline Japanese system be a better remedy?

  • Features

    Brentwood Community Hospital: Operation sunlight

    2009-03-13T00:00:00Z

    Sheppard Robson’s redevelopment of a PFI hospital in Essex aimed to maximise views for patients. But how did it square this rather pricey ambition with the need to keep costs down?

  • Features

    The return of the glazed terracotta tile

    2009-02-27T00:00:00Z

    Like an old punk band that reunites for one last gig, glazed terracotta tiles – famous for their early appearances on Victorian pubs and tube stations – are making a comeback. Stephen Kennett gives a big hand to two completed schemes that are shaking up the streets of London

  • Features

    Floor performance: 'the difference between a surgeon’s knife hitting the right or wrong spot'

    2009-01-30T00:00:00Z

    You know how it is: you’re just about to cut out some tissue around the jugular vein when the floorboard moves under your feet. Oops… Stephen Kennett reports on what designers are doing to stop floors vibrating

  • Bishop’s Square development in Spitalfields, east London
    Features

    Eco-terraces: Urban jungle

    2009-01-16T00:00:00Z

    Eco-terraces are the next big thing in rooftop developments – but, says Stephen Kennett, it pays to have green fingers. Where’s Alan Titchmarsh when you need him?

  • Features

    Window pains: Different ways windows can fail

    2008-04-11T00:00:00Z

    Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans analyses the different ways windows can fail and how to prevent them doing so. For a full guide to suppliers, log on to www.building.co.uk/specifier

  • The Entryphone Company’s video screen system is its most popular product
    Features

    Stars of the tiny screen

    2007-02-16T00:00:00Z

    Video entry systems aren’t just for posh flats. Oliver Ashbee of the Entryphone Company explains how it’s supplying social landlords and commercial clients, too.

  • This visualisation shows how the roof will look from inside the courtyard.
    Features

    Georgious Washington

    2007-02-02T00:00:00Z

    Roofing If you liked the British Museum’s Great Court roof, you’re going to love its designers’ spectacular covering for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.