Tips to prevent property damage this winter

While we may be able to protect ourselves from the freezing, winter temperatures by wrapping up, our properties are not so lucky. Winter is often the peak season for buildings to experience damage. The best way to ensure that your... View Article

View point – Nigel Ostime from Hawkins\Brown

A continuing wage gap between architects working in different sectors is presenting a further obstacle to diversity of new entrants to the profession. Nigel Ostime from Hawkins\Brown suggests a different approach. Economic commentators are observing an increasing gap between the... View Article

Ask the architect – Mungo Smith – MAAP

Mungo Smith is a renowned specialist healthcare architect, and was director of Medical Architecture and Art Projects (MAAP) in the UK until 2012, when he moved the firm to Sydney, Australia. He tells ADF why an architect’s life down under isn’t always plain sailing. AFTER SETTING UP SHOP IN AUSTRALIA, WHAT ADVICE... View Article

View Point – Tim Burgess of CoveBurgess Architects

Tim Burgess of CoveBurgess Architects says that grass-roots answers are needed to the problem of practices finding it harder be located in London’s rich diversity. Our modern cities are the current embodiment of humans’ desire to gather into groupings that... View Article

Practice Profile – Colman Architects

Emerging from a desire to ‘do things better’, over their 30-year lifespan Colman Architects have produced a wealth of diverse projects from sleek gallery spaces to colossal Chinese masterplans. Sébastien Reed investigates. The project is the all-important thing – Colman... View Article

The top 10 things all renters need to know

ARLA Propertymark offers its top 10 tips that all renters should be aware of Whether it’s your first time renting or you are an experienced tenant, renting a property can present challenges for anyone if you’re unprepared. From losing your... View Article

RICS responds to the council house building announcement

Lewis Johnston, RICS Parliamentary Affairs Manager: “It is over 65 years since a Conservative Conference committed the party to delivering 300,000 homes a year. With today’s housing challenge no less urgent, the Prime Minister’s plan to unleash the first major... View Article

Site Lines – The real value of human-centred design

‘Human-centred’ buildings offering users better technology or greater material comfort will always be the exception rather than the rule as they are costly and challenging. This is a perception Atkins is trying to counter, as Rebecca Wicks reports. The needs... View Article

View Point – Dr Andy Lewry of BRE Global

Dr Andy Lewry of BRE Global outlines his strategy for betterintegrated design and build processes that use modelling to address the ‘Performance Gap’. As we drive the performance of our building stock, it is becoming clear that one of the... View Article

Editor’s Comment – October

Why can’t we build the public housing we need in the UK? While the higher-end homes sector continues to boom (despite a slight downturn in London), the solutions for achieving our dreams of tackling the crisis at the other end,... View Article

Timber in Architecture Supplement 2017 – Editor’s comment

Sustainable, healthy, beautiful, endlessly forgiving and flexible for building with, what’s not to like about wood? While it may not be suitable for absolutely every type of construction, its enduring –  and resurgent – popularity is now seeing timber appear... View Article

The social housing self-service revolution

Peter Graddon, director of Omfax Systems, providers of Keyfax, dynamic scripting solutions for the social housing sector. Customer service in social housing is undergoing a dramatic digital transformation, with the growth of multi-channel contact centres and online self-service tools, which... View Article

Comment: Get specification right first time

The Metal Cladding and Roofing Manufacturers Association explains the importance of approved cladding systems and the dangers of changing specifications. Metal cladding systems provide efficient, aesthetically pleasing and sustainable solutions for a wide variety of external building envelopes. However, the... View Article