More Focus – Page 180
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Features
Quadruple glazing: Fancy a fourth layer?
It’s winter and our thoughts turn to keeping warm by any means necessary. Is quadruple glazing the solution? Thomas Lane peeks out from behind his curtains to ask the experts
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Donald Lawson: Bigger and better
Faithful + Gould boss Donald Lawson knows a thing or two about consolidation thanks to Atkins’ takeover 15 years ago. He tells Ðǿմ«Ã½ how it got the firm to where it is today
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McLaren factory: Driving force
White, pristine and streamlined – McLaren’s sports car production centre is like no factory you’ve ever seen. Ike Ijeh goes for a spin at the Foster-designed facility Â
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Country focus: China
China’s GDP outstrips almost everyone else’s, but, says Philip Darby from EC Harris, there are concerns about inflation, bank lending, house prices and construction safety
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Survival of the fittest: Courses to improve your CV
Is your CV as good as it could be? With 2012 looking tough, now’s the time to upskill and gain knowledge to win the race for jobs and further your career. Here are three courses that could put you in the fast lane
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Arts-led regeneration projects: Join the culture club
These days museums, art galleries and concert halls are built not for their own sake but in the hope they can transform deprived urban wastelands into vibrant communities. Ike Ijeh looks at the resounding successes - and some abject failures
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Features
Top Specialists 2011
What could help specialist contractors out of the fix they’re in? Iain Withers applies a bit of elbow grease and works up a wishlist
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Stone unturned: Crest Nicholson interview
Two years ago Crest Nicholson almost came a cropper under a deluge of debt. Chief executive Stephen Stone tells Ðǿմ«Ã½ how its buy-out, and some sheer nerve, has enabled it to stay around
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Public sector cuts: Client feedback
Public sector clients slashed projects in response to the chancellor’s swingeing cuts. But as the results of the Constructionline Ðǿմ«Ã½ Index show, the pain is by no means over
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Q&A with the RICS: The new qualification
The RICS’ new AssocRICS qualification has been met with scepticism and accusations of devaluing the profession. Ðǿմ«Ã½ talks to executive director Mark Walley about why a creating a new path into the institution is a good thing for everyone
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Flood-proof house: Home and dry
Would you build a house on the Norfolk Broads, one of the most flood-prone areas of the UK? LSI Architects did and its sophisticated design meant getting the project through planning was plain sailing.
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Q&A with a roofing specialist: To top it all
How has roofing design been affected by the pressure to reduce costs while providing environmentally-friendly solutions? Brent Tyrrell, business development manager at Lakesmere, talks about the latest developments in the sector
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Turner & Townsend interview: Vince Clancy and Steve McGuckin
As more UK consultancies are snapped up by international giants, Ðǿմ«Ã½ hears from global boss Vince Clancy and UK MD Steve McGuckin about why Turner & Townsend isn’t budging on its independence
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Features
Retail market report: the impact of online shopping
Forget shopping trolleys. You’ll soon be able to buy something by pointing your mobile phone at it. But what impact is this, and the inexorable rise of online shopping, going to have on retail construction? Ðǿմ«Ã½ looks at this fast-changing sector
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Features
The tracker: Autumn wipe out
September offered little cause for cheer as activity declined across all three sectors: residential, non-residential and civil engineering. Experian Economics reveals the extent of the bad news
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Features
First Impressions: Kapoor's ArcelorMittal Orbit
The student panel is not too impressed with Anish Kapoor’s controversial spiralling Olympic ArcelorMittal Orbit
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Features
The rise of the BIM consultant
With its clear government backing and success stories in the press, construction firms realise that BIM is a Very Important Thing. The question is, how to do it? Thomas Lane meets the new wave of BIM consultants who may have the answer
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Features
Are we experiencing the second great depression? Into the vortex
Reports out this week warn of five more years of economic decline, soaring unemployment and the threat of widespread social unrest. Could we be experiencing a second Great Depression? Ðǿմ«Ã½ travels back in time to predict construction’s future
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Features
The consultancy sector: Little and large
Consolidation is now the name of the consultancy sector game - except some clients still like a more individual touch. Joey Gardiner asks if uneasiness over the new giants is spawning small startups
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Features
The Tom Bloxham interview
For 20 years, renowned regeneration company Urban Splash grew and grew. Then in 2008 the bottom fell out of the market and soon after the firm found itself on the ‘brink of collapse’. Its founder tells Emily Wright how it changed everything - and nothing