All articles by Thomas Lane – Page 26
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FeaturesHarnessing the wind: Bahrain World Trade Centre
Bahrain’s World Trade Centre is one of the first buildings to be designed with wind turbines as part of its structure. It sounds simple, but as Thomas Lane discovered, the problems were many and the answers elusive
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NewsWork on Viñoly’s Colchester arts centre finally resumes
Council strikes £14.2m deal with Banner Holdings to finish exterior, as design changes to cut costs
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FeaturesBSF special: the painful upbringing of Building Schools for the Future
The troubled past of the government’s £45bn school building programme has been well documented, but there seem to be signs that it is growing into a more mature and productive client. Kicking off our schools special, Thomas Lane charts its progress. Illustrations by Max Schindler
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NewsViñoly arts centre £3m over budget and one year late
No end in sight for Colchester scheme after envelope and glazing contractors pull out of job
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FeaturesHigh-speed core construction: Core blimey!
Speed is everything in construction today, so concrete specialist John Doyle has devised a system that means the building core can be built at the rate of a floor a day. Thomas Lane found out more
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NewsViñoly arts centre £3m over budget and one year late
No end in sight for Colchester scheme after envelope and glazing contractors pull out of job
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FeaturesThe secret square: Bennetts Associates’ New Street Square
It is reached through narrow medieval-style passageways, but could be a blueprint for a sustainable 21st-century City of London
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NewsDunster to drive Transition Town development
Eco architect to team up with 'post-oil' community to develop zero carbon housing and a factory for production of components for his RuralZED houses in Totnes
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FeaturesRob Hopkins: Eco Worrier
The era of cheap oil is over and our economic system is doomed, believes environmentalist Rob Hopkins. So is he gloomy? Not a bit of it. It’s such a tremendous opportunity.
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FeaturesCrucible Theatre: Right on cue
If there’s one thing the city of Sheffield, the world’s snooker fans and project manager David Hobson can all agree on, it’s that nothing can stand in the way of the World Snooker Championship next year. Not even its venue’s much-needed revamp. Thomas Lane puts you in the frame
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FeaturesEnergy performance certificates: don't kid yourself
If you think that getting a decent energy performance rating will be a pushover, the chances are you may end up feeling bruised by the experience. Thomas Lane analyses Building’s latest survey of building owners
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CommentBuilding buys a pint … for RMJM
For this week’s pint we are in the heart of trendy Hoxton in east London, the raw version of architect’s ghetto Clerkenwell, which lies just to the west.
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News
Opening salvo
The last year has seen something of a surge (to use the current military terminology) in the battle for a greener built environment. A year ago housebuilders were just beginning to contemplate the implications of the Code for Sustainable Homes; now they have gone some way towards actually trying to ...
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News
Reform the Regs: The first battle is won
Building has claimed victory in its fight to reform the regs (which just leaves the small task of implementing all the tough new environmental regulations mentioned elsewhere in this supplement). Thomas Lane rates how well the government has answered our campaign demands
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News
Architects attack plan to split Building Regs research
RIBA and CIAT write to the government to warn that letting 16 R&D tenders will damage coherence
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FeaturesWhitelee wind farm: Putting the wind up
You might think the biggest difficulty in building a wind farm would be the wind itself, but on the moor outside Glasgow the rain, snow and liquid peat are just as bad. Thomas Lane donned his souwester to take a look at the construction of Europe’s largest onshore wind farm.
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FeaturesPeter Bonfield: The BRE's speed merchant
Peter Bonfield is a man in a hurry, whether he’s pedalling furiously on his 36-mile round trip to work or plotting grandiose five-year plans. The question is, can BRE keep up with its energetic leader? Thomas Lane went to find out
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NewsGovernment grants eleventh-hour EPC reprieve
Six-month breathing space granted amid concern over shortage of assessors
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FeaturesSnug as a bug in rug
When the Natural History Museum decided it needed to house 20 million insect and plant specimens within one structure, building a giant shiny, ivory coloured cocoon seemed to make perfect sense. Thomas Lane buzzed over to find out more …
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FeaturesThe inside job
It was like the Great Escape in reverse. How do you get inside a prison to double prisoner capacity without giving your captive audience any funny ideas about all that scaffolding? Using a panelised system was one solution – though not half as much fun as smashing a hole in ...