All articles by Thomas Lane – Page 23
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News‘It’s good to slow down’: Aldar at Al Raha Beach
Abu Dhabi developer Aldar is toning down the extravagance at Al Raha Beach, its 11km-long waterfront paradise. Patrick Bell, its head of pre-construction, tells Thomas Lane why that’s no bad thing
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FeaturesTwist and shout: RMJM’s Abu Dhabi Capital Gate tower
RMJM’s Capital Gate tower in Abu Dhabi leans at a stomach-lurching 18º, making it a project that largely consisted of geometrical and structural problems – not least of which was finding out where the building had moved to each morning
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FeaturesVictorian Passivhaus: a Haus in Hackney
Is it possible to refurbish a Victorian house in a conservation area to Passivhaus standards? In the last in our series on upgrading existing homes, Thomas Lane visits one east Londoner who was determined to find out
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NewsThe hospitable: Foster + Partners’ Circle Bath hospital
Foster + Partners intended its first ever healthcare project – the 28-bed Circle Bath – to be as warm and welcoming as a five-star boutique hotel
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FeaturesLeaning Las Vegas: a city centre by starchitects
A veritable ratpack of architects are turning up the style in Sin City, writes Thomas Lane – and they’re not all playing it straight …
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CommentBuilding buys a pint... for Stride Treglown
Within five minutes of sitting down it’s obvious this is going to be a long night
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CommentTimber frames: Warning bells are ringing
The blaze that swept through a Peckham street two weeks ago has left the timber-frame industry in little doubt that, next time, lives may soon be lost. But can the sector do more to ensure there is no next time?
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FeaturesThe new arrival: Balfour Beatty’s Birmingham PFI hospital
Weighing in at £585m, Balfour Beatty’s Birmingham PFI hospital was expected to be a difficult birth. Instead, it has been delivered with few complications, no trips to casualty, and ahead of its due date. Thomas Lane hands round the cigars
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NewsTimber frame industry in 'total denial' over fire risk
After Peckham blaze, fire chiefs accuse specialists and HSE of failing to police safety on sites
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FeaturesSunderland university student union: All bar none
There’s no room for slackers at Sunderland university’s dazzling new student union, which packs its impressively generous spaces with sports halls and exercise areas. You can’t even get a pint around here
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FeaturesRome improvements: Hadid's Maxxi museum
Zaha Hadid’s long-awaited Maxxi art museum has given the Eternal City a bit of a shake-up
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FeaturesAll’s well that ends well: Stratford-upon-Avon theatre
Ripping the guts out of the RSC’s Stratford-upon-Avon theatre and building a new auditorium in the existing one was Bennetts Associates’ bold remedy to the many poetic injustices being done to the Bard
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FeaturesImagine the world in 2020: climate change
The year’s 2020, and, having left Building for reasons far too shocking to go into here, former assistant editor Thomas Lane talks us through a day in his life as an engineer in a world that’s slowly coming to terms with climate change …
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FeaturesZaha's Museum of Transport: The battle of the oil can
Zaha Hadid’s Museum of Transport in Glasgow was designed with gothic zinc-clad ridges and 100m-plus roof spans. They looked great on a computer screen, but led to memorable rows with the project team
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NewsEnergy standards for homes to fall short of Passivhaus
Proposed overhaul of Code for Sustainable Homes would set higher energy limit than German method
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FeaturesStatus updated: Facebook’s California HQ
This former laboratory in Palo Alto, California has been transformed into Facebook’s new corporate HQ
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FeaturesRopemaker or Watermark Place: The big square off
Two big hitters have emerged on the streets of the City: Ropemaker in the red corner (above left), Watermark Place in the blue (above right). But which will take the sustainability title and be crowned ultimate speculative office champ?
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Comment
A good day for gloom-mongers
We live in confusing times. On one hand, we’ve had a week of posturing by the Tories and Labour as each tries to outdo the other on the prickliness of the hair shirts they’ll be forcing Whitehall in particular, and the public sector in general, to wearOn the other, there ...
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CommentA good day for gloom-mongers
We live in confusing times. On one hand, we’ve had a week of posturing by the Tories and Labour as each tries to outdo the other on the prickliness of the hair shirts they’ll be forcing Whitehall in particular, and the public sector in general, to wear
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Comment
In with the old
Reusing existing buildings is set to be the next big thing because it is greener and cheaper than new build. Hampshire council's refurbished headquarters has kicked off this trend; a gas guzzling sixties eyesore has been transformed into one of the UK’s most energy efficient offices. It pioneers a way ...