All articles by Mark Leftly – Page 12
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FeaturesGet Luder: Owen Luder’s fight to save Gateshead carpark
From the archive: Back in 2005 Building joined the architect as he tried to save his brutallist car park, made famous by the film Get Carter, from demolition
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News
Treasury drafts contractors to advise on capacity crisis
Expert bodies are likely to be set up in each government department to anticipate construction bottlenecks
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FeaturesDesign laid bare
The opening of an adult emporium designed by Papa Architects was almost too much to bear for one upright Building reporter.
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News
Sri Lankan conflict blocks tsunami reconstruction
British firms ‘frustrated’ by funding dispute between government and Tamil Tigers in north and east of country
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NewsBuilding readers back Conservatives in survey
Conservative Party takes 3.5% more votes than Labour, despite support for government’s construction policies
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FeaturesGoodbye, Mr Chapman
Sir Sydney Chapman, the only qualified architect in the House of Commons and the man behind the controversial Portcullis House project, retired from parliament last week after 30 years as a Conservative MP – but not before enjoying a final cuppa in the Commons tearoom
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FeaturesTeam captains
The Olympics are about training, dedication and beating the odds. The 2012 bid team need the same qualities as the athletes – and vision besides …
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News
Post-2012 deal for Olympic site
The London 2012 Olympic bid team is close to securing post-games operating funds for a third major sports venue
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Features
A brand new start
Jarvis recently said it just might, one day, change its name to something a bit less cock-up connected – so naturally Building jumped at the chance of making a bit of cash as a branding consultant. We drummed up suggestions from the industry, and judged which one was right for ...
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FeaturesThe Chalmers & Lyons show
Sir Michael Lyons and Lesley Chalmers are in charge of one of the best-kept secrets in regeneration – a public–private venture set up to transform the grimmest areas in England. They are also a great comedy double act.
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FeaturesBolkestein’s monster
Just when you thought it was safe to use Continental contractors … A hideous European directive has begun a bloodthirsty rampage that could have a devastating effect on the UK construction industry.
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FeaturesJohn Redwood
After three years away from the front bench, the poster boy of the Thatcherite right is keen to demonstrate how a Tory government would make £35bn of efficiency savings – and gladden the hearts of the construction industry.
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Features
Steve Morgan
With Liverpool still ignoring his advances, the former Redrow boss is turning his attention to a new land-purchase venture. We meet a man throwing himself into his work …
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News
Sustainablity code hits delay
The government’s sustainable buildings code has been delayed for at least three months
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Features
Can paris be beaten?
The bookies, the population of Paris and the Queen of England all think that the French are about to add the 2012 Olympic Games to their sporting triumphs. We met the people behind the bid and found out why they’re so confident …
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FeaturesSecond thoughts
Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson’s very funny, very charming and highly critical account of Britain in the 1990s, made Britons look at themselves slightly differently. But what would he write if he took the same journey today?
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NewsKey NHS client voices doubts over ‘rigid’ PFI
The £422m, 35-year University College London Hospital contract will have to be renegotiated within 10 years, according the project’s client. The admission puts a question mark over the use of the PFI in health projects in its present form
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FeaturesSo I changed my mind …
Peter Dixon is the man in charge of a £422m PFI hospital in London. He has also written in a national newspaper that hospital PFIs have been a ‘costly failure’. We invite him to explain himself – after which we get a second opinion from a woman with very definite ...
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FeaturesCutter’s way
John Oughton, the mandarin in charge of government procurement, is determined to slash the time and money spent on the bidding process. But can he overcome a creaky civil service and an overstretched construction industry?
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FeaturesJarvis diaries - The edge of reason
Poor old Jarvis has had a v. bad year, having struggled with debts and been walked out on by its top men. Here, its month-by-month misadventures are chronicled by Mark ‘Darcy’ Leftly …