More Focus – Page 75
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FeaturesProjects: BBC TV Centre - no place for daleks
The iconic home of television has been given a new lease of life as housing, offices - and broadcast studios. Ike Ijeh tunes in
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FeaturesCost model: Services for tall buildings
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are a particular challenge for tall buildings, with their own considerations and commercial drivers. Alinea Consulting details the factors and costs for office towers
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FeaturesAnalysis: RIP PFI?
Reports of the death of PFI may have been exaggerated, but there’s no question it’s been ailing for a long while. Is Carillion’s collapse the last nail in its coffin? And if so, what’s going to replace it?
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Features70 St Mary Axe - ahead of the curve
The distinctive sloping roof of 70 St Mary Axe has earned it the nickname ‘The Can of Ham’. But to fulfil the demands of the build programme, Mace has had to adopt ultra-efficient methods that think outside the box
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FeaturesAnalysis: Fine margins
Carillion’s collapse is easy to dismiss as a one-off case of mismanagement. But what it also reveals is how hard it is to keep a healthy balance sheet in an industry with wafer-thin margins. Is it time to blame the system
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FeaturesConsultants' salary survey 2018: It's not all about the money
The opposing forces of opportunity and uncertainty are keeping construction salaries in balance. And while employers are no longer offering skilled professionals mega pay rises, they are refining non-financial benefits.
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FeaturesAnalysis: the rise of the mid-rise
Dame Judith Hackitt’s review into fire safety – prompted by the Grenfell disaster – will have consequences for every aspect of how we build homes. Many of the potential changes will favour the medium-sized building
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FeaturesProjects: Built by gaslight
An eagerly awaited luxury housing development at King’s Cross has an unusual exterior – three Victorian gasholders frame the structures
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FeaturesMarket forecast: Maintaining margins
Technically the construction industry is in a recession, but many firms continue to report stable activity levels for now
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FeaturesHealth check
The government’s new PPP, Project Phoenix, was hailed as the NHS’ big hope, bringing much-needed cash to the ailing healthcare estate. Nearly a year on, have any hospitals been fixed up yet? And what are the other prospects for desperately needed additional funding?
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FeaturesLead times: October-December 2017
Our previous look at lead times back in September forecast little alteration, but as it turned out there were no changes at all over the subsequent three months
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Features‘This was a house of cards that could fall down at any moment’
Invited by MPs this week to explain how the construction and FM giant collapsed so precipitously, the firm’s former bosses revealed something of the mess they got themselves into
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FeaturesProjects: Pane management - the restoration of the Temperate House at Kew
The Temperate House at Kew, the world’s largest Victorian greenhouse, is about to emerge from a painstaking – and at times nerve-racking – restoration
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FeaturesTracker: December 2017
Little growth was in evidence as most indices stayed steady or contracted, while all sectors experienced less work in hand
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FeaturesProjects: Raiders of the lost car park
Multi-storey car parks may not traditionally have been seen as desirable real estate, but a lucky few are being repurposed as everything from luxury hotels to micro-flats
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FeaturesCarillion: Questions to be answered
Ahead of next week’s Select Committee grilling of Carillion’s directors, Joey Gardiner delves into the £5bn contractor’s accounting practices and how it got itself into such an unholy mess
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FeaturesMarket review: Falling forecasts
Declines in productivity and real wages, along with the uncertainty around Brexit, are driving down growth forecasts. But only one economic sector actually shrank in Q3 2017 - construction
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FeaturesAnalysis: Housing benefits
Help to Buy is the government’s big leg-up to help housebuilders increase output. So news of ‘obscene’ executive pay along with scandals over leaseholds and defects are not going down well
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FeaturesDigital construction: Better, faster, stronger
Construction needs to get with the programme. The new tech programme, that is, which can offer radical and disruptive solutions to help deal with the housing needs of a rapidly expanding population. So what’s on offer, and how could it affect your working life?
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FeaturesSustainability - productive workplace
With UK productivity lagging, the workplace environment can be a critical factor in driving improvements. How should you evaluate and improve workplace productivity?