Opinion 鈥� Page 349
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Feelings, wo-o-o feelings鈥�
You don鈥檛 often see the words 鈥榚ngineering鈥� and 鈥榚motion鈥� in the same sentence, but once the connection is made, it can change lives
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Wonders & blunders with Philip Watts
Philip Watts enjoys the feelings of oppression he gets when inside Libeskind鈥檚 Jewish Museum. But inside the prison of Sheffield鈥檚 Parkhill Estate all he wants is to get out
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CommentHansom: The seat of power
Downing Street is the scene of this week鈥檚 tales of the unexpected, as Gordon Brown practises his stand-up routine, Prince Charles is praised for his tact, and a hard-bitten architect gets all gooey-eyed
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The (un)luck of the Irish
If I had chosen this week for a relaxing break in some warmer winter weather in Cannes, I would be severely unimpressed by now.Not only has a large proportion of the town (and the bars and restaurants) been taken over by property types, but last night was the France vs ...
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House building looks set for growth in 2010
The latest Government house building numbers strongly suggest that a shade more than 100,000 homes will be built in England in 2009.This would represent a 40% drop on the peak year of 2007 and make 2009 a record peacetime low.There are hints of hope in the figures with the starts ...
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MAPIC: Europe's big five report a stagnant retail sector
As mentioned in my previous blog, the seminar on retail development in Europe鈥檚 big five this afternoon promised news of an 鈥渆normous development pipeline鈥�, something I would imagine translating into plenty of opportunities for the construction industry.Well, an enormous pipeline there might be but unfortunately the delegates from the UK, ...
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MAPIC dispatches: Argentina bids to join the BRIC pack
The mood so far at MAPIC is hopeful. Seminar and conferences titles are peppered with mention of 鈥渢he future鈥�, 鈥渓ooking ahead鈥�, 鈥渆merging markets鈥� and 鈥渟trong pipeline鈥�.It seems that for the retail market, like many others, things are finally starting to look up and while no one is predicting a massive ...
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Are expectations of inflation too low?
Inflation is now on the way up. That was to be expected. As Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, keeps reminding us, we should expect inflation to be very volatile for some while.But, is it me or do the forecasts for inflation reaching a mini-peak at about 3% ...
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New Year stamp duty switchback will have little impact, says RICS
For those interested in what will happen when the stamp duty holiday comes to an end on December 31, the surveyors' body RICS has done a little bit of research among its members.Basically, the results seem to suggest that by and large the effect on property transactions will be muted ...
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Christmas sales come to the housing market
It's the run up to Christmas and we're in a recession - well if not technically, we're definitely suffering from the recession - so don't be surprised to see redundancies on the rise and asking prices for homes on the decline. It is the nature of things.And in this regard ...
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CommentHalf full, not half empty
At the British Council of Shopping Centres conference this week, the talk was of the shortage of retail space and the need to start building fairly soon to meet demand in four years鈥� time
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Stirring sentiments from No.10
The interior decor of No.10 (as you鈥檇 expect lots of chintz, 1980s uplighters, a few too many landscapes and Blackpool Ballroom-style chandeliers) might have offended the sensibilities of many of his uber design audience, but the message Gordon Brown delivered couldn鈥檛 have gone down better.鈥淏ritish design and architecture are ...
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CommentThe West is the best
I liked your Dubai leader (鈥淎fter the goldrush鈥�, 30 October, page 3) and I was interested to read about the future reliance on Indian QSs and off-site services
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Train the chain
Regarding Steven Morgan鈥檚 article (9 October, page 24) I heartily agree that clear lines of responsibility are crucial for a successful project
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Heated debate
The article revealing that the Zero Carbon Hub is suggesting an energy use figure of 30-45kWhr/m2/yr figure for the 2016 Code for Sustainable Homes indicates a lack of vision and seriousness on the part of this organisation (23 October, page 13)
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The banks must act
While confidence in the commercial property market is continuing to rise, this is not being matched by the availability of freehold assets for investors to buy
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Three simple rules
Further to your 鈥渋ncreasingly controversial鈥� safety blunders pictures 鈥� yes you should still publish it, but with the following rules: All the blunders need to be in the EU to prevent the 鈥渓et鈥檚 laugh at Johnny Foreigner鈥� school of blunderography. All the blunders should have a name of the contractor ...
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Electronic documents: Indecent disclosure
Showing the other side your electronic documents is far more expensive and dangerous than simply putting emails and Word documents on a memory stick
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Public procurement: A fresh chance to challenge
Public bodies should tighten up their procurement systems, as the remedies directive will widen the scope for firms to contest their decisions