Breathing new life into schools

New standards for ventilation in schools are set to transform approaches to design and system choices, as James Hammick of Passivent explains. Changes to the Department for Education’s ventilation guidance Building Bulletin BB101 are imminent, with the new bulletin ‘Guidelines... View Article

Clever with cladding

Paul Richards of Aquarian Cladding Systems, explains how ever-increasing demands from the education sector are fuelling fresh innovations in construction solutions to meet the sector’s needs. Building for education comes with its own set of challenges, often including term date-dictated... View Article

Quiet please!

Cellecta’s Richard Hillman offers some sound advice on achieving high acoustic performance in student accommodation. Student accommodations can be noisy environments which can disrupt sleep, add to stress, infringe on privacy, and generally compromise quality of life. Achieving a high... View Article

Raising standards in play

Julie Pearce of Sovereign Design Play Systems highlights the importance of using a specialist playground provider. Planning for a playground as part of a new-build project or enhancing an existing play space for a school upgrade can be very time... View Article

The convenience of co-ordination

Architects are increasingly looking to tie washroom design into the overall look of a building’s interior – and high-spec products are becoming more commonplace. Trevor Bowers of Washroom Washroom explores the diverse range of solutions on offer. By continually pushing... View Article

Bridging the performance gap

The movement to build ‘eco’ has led to greater focus on the importance of insulation, but the industry needs to ensure projects are built ‘as designed’ says Recticel’s Peter Wilcox. The final Evidence Review Report produced by the Zero Carbon... View Article

Structural glazing: Reshaping the modern skyline

As technology evolves, glass continues to be seen at the core of many exciting and iconic buildings, enabling achitects to achieve their goals. Phil Savage of Pilkington discusses the growing importance of glass in modern building design. A look across... View Article

Designing for better flood control

Climate change is posing a constant challenge to designers to create efficient flood management systems. Stuart Pearce of GeoSmart Information reviews current practice and says the industry needs to take a broader view. Traditional flood risk management approaches have been... View Article

Winners in wood design: 45th Annual Wood Awards

The winners of the 45th annual Wood Awards will be revealed in November. Ahead of the ceremony, Sarah Johnson exclusively previews the shortlisted projects in the Buildings Competition section. The Wood Awards have been celebrating excellence in British wood-based architecture... View Article

Oriented towards design

Stuart Devoil of Smartply explains how the humble sheet of OSB has become a design solution as engineered timber panels are being used across the building sector, from the construction of energy efficient and low carbon homes to site hoardings... View Article

Calling for a shift in focus

Frank Werling of Finnish wood specialists Metsä Wood says the green agenda in construction must shift towards sustainable production of building materials – and timber leads the way as an alternative to steel and concrete. A brief history of timber... View Article

Why a wood first policy stacks up

Greg Cooper of B & K Structures discusses the positive impact which cross laminated timber has made within the built environment. As construction makes up a total of 45 per cent of carbon emissions in the UK, sustainability is an important... View Article

Building-in cost benefits

As construction heads towards decarbonisation, choice of building materials is increasingly crucial. Andrew Carpenter of the Structural Timber Association (STA) outlines why timber provides built-in cost benefits. Cost is one of the main considerations for architects and specifiers when choosing a... View Article

Changing the urban landscape for the mobile generation

People have become glued to their mobile devices, but is the urban landscape well-suited to swathes of distracted walkers? Jonathan Goss of Townscape Products explores how the streetscape is being adapted to make it safer. Picture the scene: an endless... View Article