More Focus – Page 239
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FeaturesHell’s clients: whatever happened to frameworks?
Frameworks were one of Egan’s famous win–win deals: suppliers would get lots of work and clients would get their loyalty. But now clients don’t need fidelity, so it seems they’re ripping up the rules. Joey Gardiner looks at what that means for the industry
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FeaturesCould it be magic? Take That's stage set
Well, with its giant mechanical elephant, big top and 10m-high puppet ringmaster, Take That’s new show is certainly surreal. But who designs and builds this sort of stuff? Thomas Lane went behind the scenes at the fastest-selling show in UK pop history
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Features
The tracker: Still falling...
After the rate of decline slowed in March, activity accelerated again (slightly) in April. Goods news is thin on the ground, but things might just pick up in June and July, says Experian Business Strategies
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FeaturesInquiring minds: Tips for picking the right degree
Signing up to a degree is a huge decision, so it’s vital to find out everything you can at your interview. Katie Puckett pinpoints the 10 questions you really need to ask
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FeaturesIn control: building inspectors
Forget Britain’s Got Talent, last week a Channel 4 documentary finally gave the unsung world of building control its moment in the limelight. Emily Wright finds out what the inspectors involved, and the rest of the industry, thought of it...
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FeaturesReed out loud: the RIBA's first woman president
Ruth Reed wants to change people’s views of the RIBA – and becoming the institute’s first woman president isn’t a bad place to start. She talks to Dan Stewart about her priorities for her two-year stint, the recession and how she hopes to make the RIBA less London-centric
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FeaturesExploding church, invisible architect: Iglesia de Santa Monica
Spanish firm Vicens + Ramos is a reclusive practice, but this iconic/iconoclastic church in Madrid is hard to miss
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FeaturesCouncil houses: return to a golden age?
It’s not a lot, but the government has made £100m available for councils to start building homes again. So is this the start of a glorious return to a golden age?
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FeaturesNeighbours: Lovell and Tarmac on reaching code level four or above
The house on the left aims to meet code level four, but next door they’ve got even loftier pretensions. Stephen Kennett reports on goings-on at a site in Nottingham
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FeaturesAutomated design: checking the regs
So you’ve squeezed every last minute and penny out of the construction process. But what about all the frustrating to-ing and fro-ing with the drawings? Stephen Kennett meets a man who thinks he has an answer to that
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FeaturesCountry focus: Serbia
Serbia’s construction industry may not be racking up 20% growth any more, but it’s still hitting 9.5% and shows little sign of slipping into recession. Sasa Trajkovic of EC Harris marks your card
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FeaturesNew Saudi property rules could tempt UK firms
Regulations follow Dubai’s recent changes, which is good news for those entering the market
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FeaturesSupersize me: HKS' Dallas Cowboys stadium
The sheer scale of HKS’ stadium for the Dallas Cowboys kicks Wembley’s arch and Wimbledon’s retractable roof into touch
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FeaturesStone Alone: Crest Nicholson's boss on surviving a crisis
Crest Nicholson was knocked sideways by the disintegration of the housing market and the failure of the global banking system, and for 10 months chief executive Stephen Stone shouldered the weight of a collapsing company. Tom Bill found out what it took to keep smiling
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FeaturesThe peasant's revolt this ain't: Chelsea vs the barracks
This gang of Chelsea residents is on the cusp of pulling off a very English coup. Emily Wright met their ringleaders
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FeaturesOperation Hip: Igloo's Bermondsey Square
Bermondsey Square, the centrepiece of a £60m regeneration project in south-east London, is intended to seduce the young and trendy with its take on inner-city living
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FeaturesCameron's cards: top Tories and their construction plans
How many members of the shadow Cabinet can you name? Thought so. But now that Labour is running out of time, options and MPs, you really ought to get to know them better. Sarah Richardson looks at the characters who will set the tone in a Tory government – and ...
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Features
Cost update: May 2009
With construction material prices still in decline and wages variously increased or frozen, the market shows a mixed picture. Peter Fordham of Davis Langdon takes a closer look
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FeaturesPhotovoltaic roof tiles
Sandtoft has launched a roofing system that enables Solarcentury’s C21e photovoltaic (PV) roof tiles to be integrated with Sandtoft’s Cassius and Rivius clay roof tiles
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FeaturesRoof verge systems
Glidevale has introduced the Universal Dry Verge System which, it claims accommodates all interlocking metric sized tiles and can be used on both left and right sides of the roof