More Focus 鈥� Page 454
-
FeaturesPaperless tiger
Singapore is going to be the first country in the world to do all its building control with intelligent object technology. Soon, checking a design against regulations will be the work of a few seconds. Victoria Madine wonders when the UK will do the same
-
FeaturesHow to cut paper (before it cuts you)
BuildOnline's net-based project collaboration tool is designed to eliminate paper drawings and slash administration costs. Andy Pearson meets the intrepid team in Gateshead that has been testing the system, and asks: did they resist the temptation to print?
-
FeaturesFollow me or die
The head on the screen, severed but still talking, has a warning to give you. Unless you leave your futile attachment to things of paper (with the exception of magazines, obviously), you face a future of non-existence 鈥� Thomas Lane made a record of the seance
-
FeaturesModels of solid light
Once upon a time, it would have taken a craftsman weeks to build an architect's model from drawings. Now you just press a "go" icon and, hey presto, a laser crafts a miniature edifice in resin. Matthew Richards explores the world of rapid prototyping
-
Features
Just the job
Christopher Groome, business manager of the International Alliance for Interoperability, tells Victoria Madine how he is helping to make construction IT literate
-
FeaturesCost model: High-rise housing refurbishment
The government is reappraising the UK’s social housing in order to meet its decent homes target by 2010. Here, Davis Langdon & Everest examines the costs, key issues and associated problems of refurbishing a tower block
-
FeaturesHeart warming
After being abandoned by the public for a flashy young out-of-town mall, Sheffield's city centre is enticing them back with a number of arresting projects, the latest of which is this Pringle Richards Sharratt winter garden
-
-
Features
Job cuts are on the cards, warn major contractors
The commercial downturn and uncertainty in the rail sector lead Carillion and Mace to count heads.
-
Features
Lend Lease boss to head up English Partnerships
Regeneration quango English Partnerships has appointed Lend Lease boss David Higgins as its chief executive.The Australian is stepping down as Lend Lease managing director and group chief executive next year. Higgins鈥� departure comes after nearly 18 years with the group. He does, however, want to remain in the UK, where ...
-
Features
Interserve promotes 35-year-old to chief executive
Support services group Interserve has appointed 35-year-old Adrian Ringrose chief executive. Ringrose鈥檚 appointment will take effect on 1 July next year after six months as deputy chief executive. The decision to promote Ringrose follows the announcement in May that the roles of chairman and chief executive were to be split.Mike ...
-
Features
Galliford Try to cut jobs at weakest links
ContractoR Galliford Try intends to reduce the size of its Leeds contracting office and Kent maintenance division. Market insiders claim that these offices have been identified as weak links in the 拢649m group. The decision to restructure comes after the sudden departure of deputy chief executive George Marsh, who left ...
-
Features
A tsar is born
In the race to upgrade schools and hospitals, money is no object. What is in doubt is whether Whitehall has the muscle to make it happen. So, enter departmental tsars with the power of life and death over Labour's chances of a third term.
-
FeaturesIain Napier
The former brewer in charge of Taylor Woodrow aims to double margins within four years. His recipe? Take a diffuse conglomerate, blend, squeeze out PFI transport and 180 jobs then add a generous sprinkling of hospitals.
-
Features
Front line
Is the decent homes standard a valuable targeting tool or just more bureaucracy? Jeffrey Adams thinks it can work, but Ben Derbyshire is underwhelmed
-
Features
The great kitchen and bathroom giveaway
Britain's public housing is getting a makeover to meet the government's decent homes standard 鈥� kitchens and bathrooms are being fitted at a rate of knots. Trouble is, once they're done the tenants go right ahead and flog them, playing havoc with housing association balance sheets and depleting the already ...
-
FeaturesEverything and the kitchen sink 鈥�
A housing association in Coventry has lured tenants out of council hands by offering improved homes with a new kitchen and bathroom. Josephine Smit met two of the residents who made the leap.
-
FeaturesTwo ways to work smart
If you have formed the opinion that partnering works better as theory than practice, take a look at these two schemes. Both show how profit and product can be radically improved by the application of partnering
-
FeaturesTrends
Insulation is something the average homebuyer pays scant attention to, unless they stray into their loft 鈥� but it is actually at the heart of environmental action, because of its potential to improve energy efficiency in our homes. Unfortunately, insulation can also harm the environment through the release of ozone-depleting ...