Features
The COVID-19 crisis and subsequent lockdown have seriously impacted the UK economy, with businesses doing all they can to continue trading, despite not being recognised as essential services.
By providing convenient access to shops, bars, restaurants and other leisure-related places of interest, public and privately-owned car parks help oil the wheels of the urban economy. Therefore, it’s vital these sites are in the best possible state of repair in order to remain operational and help maintain town and city centre trade. Exposed car park surfaces are at the daily mercy of the elements, as well as heavy, motorised traffic, which is a potential cause of waterproofing failure if not addressed at an early stage. Mohammed Ashfaq, Senior Sales Manager at Sika, looks at the challenges involved with car park refurbishment in a ‘live’ environment to ensure sites stay safe and ingress-free.
Timber is the oldest and most sustainable building material ever known. Not only does its use have significantly less environmental impact than steel or concrete, but it has other properties which bring additional benefits to those using a leisure building day in, day out.
Charlie Fleet, Managing Director at wall coverings specialist Reco Surfaces, discusses how modular construction can lead the way in building more affordable homes in Britain.
Here, Eryl Jones, Managing Director of the ASSA ABLOY Door Hardware Group, advises on the opportunities available for inclusive building designs, the key considerations for door opening solutions, and the potential risks of not complying with these.
The construction industry has a reputation for being one of the biggest polluters; it’s responsible for 40% of the world’s carbon emissions. It’s clear that if we are to fight climate change and promote sustainability, construction will need to clean up its act. One of the best ways of doing so is cutting demand for one of the most common building materials: concrete. The key ingredient of concrete is cement which has a large carbon footprint, even higher than aviation fuel, says Charlie Ayers, Founder of SureCav.
Seaton Beach Apartments in Devon is the first UK multi-residential development to be certified as ‘Passive House Plus’. Some claim that the Passive House standard is easier to achieve with simpler, box-like forms, resulting in finished buildings being aesthetically limited – but this is certainly not the case here. A little design ingenuity and the use of Schöck Isokorb thermal breaks has enabled generous sea-facing balconies with sweeping curves to create a striking finish.
The number of change of use schemes is set to rise as clients respond to a post-pandemic market, but project teams need to bear in mind the associated fire safety challenges, says Nigel Morrey, Technical Director at Etex Building Performance.
In these dramatically changing times, it is remarkable what there is to find by simply using the word ‘innovation’ as a digging tool.
MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, has completed Gardenhouse, its first project completed in the USA.
