All Open Mic articles
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CommentAn idea with wings
An expanded Heathrow can be built years before the alternatives - that’s years in which we can compete in the global race for trade, jobs and growth
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CommentWhy we need DECs
The current focus on Energy Performance Certificates is a distraction from the vital monitoring that’s needed to reveal how buildings perform when people are actually using them
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CommentBIM: Cultural shift
A survey by RICS shows that nearly half of the sector is still not using BIM. We must work to overcome the barrriers to engagement, says Alan Muse
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CommentCriminal responsibility
Designing out crime is threatened by deregulation of the planning system
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CommentMiddle-aged folks homes
Finding a model of retirement living that appeals to 60-something baby boomers is the key to solving the housing shortage, argues Richard Morton
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CommentExploiting the green market
The green agenda is poised to create thousands of jobs and real growth. But imagination and commitment are needed to grasp this chance, says Willmott Dixon’s Chris Durkin
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CommentRace for the prize
Building’s Green for Growth campaign calls for the roll-out of display energy certificates to commercial buildings. British Land’s Justin Snoxall explains how this could work
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CommentWhy SMEs are missing out on public sector work
SMEs are missing out on public sector work because of a lack of procurement expertise
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CommentWhy building retirement housing could help the young
Encouraging older people to move to high-quality retirement housing will free up family homes for the young to move into
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CommentIs a lack of new housing resulting in more multi-family homes?
Multi-family households are on the rise, especially in London, which is just one symptom of our chronic failure to build enough new homes, says Brian Green
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CommentStandardise cost plans, not school layouts
The best schools are flexible spaces developed from a site-specific brief. Standardised layouts simply won’t work, says Richard Hyams - but standardised cost plans might …
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CommentHow structural engineers contribute to sustainability
What contribution can a structural engineer make to designing and delivering a sustainable building? The answer depends on who is marking the paper
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CommentStandardised school designs: It ain't what you do, it's the way you do it
There’s nothing intrinsically bad about standardised school designs - it’s whether they can be made to work
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CommentThings fall apart
Northern Ireland’s construction sector misses the halcyon days of investment. These days, says Adrian Eakin, there seems to be creaking infrastructure, no pipeline and no plan
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CommentMoney talks: The value of sustainability
How do you sell the idea of green buildings in a recession? The only way, says Pascal Mittermaier, is to prove to clients that sustainability will create a commercial advantage
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CommentHow to use an architect
Open mike The profession’s leadership skills and long-term approach to value hold the key to cutting public sector building costs by 20%
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CommentPensions: Cleaning up our toxic legacy
Construction accounts for £34.4bn of the UK’s final salary pension deficit. How can the government restore confidence in workplace schemes?
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CommentFit-out needs a makeover
The sector’s fortunes have always been closely linked to those of the City, but it has been slow to adapt to the post-Lehman landscape