Features

In this article, Sean Ballard, Managing Director of Sunray Doors, unearths the dos and don’ts of timber fire door specification for high-rise buildings. Speaking on behalf of Sunray’s Timber Fire Door division, he briefly runs through the essential elements to consider for optimum specification and installation, and outlines key points you should address to ensure high performance and compliance.

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it is the importance of the outdoors – the spaces between and around buildings, as well as the public realm – to our health, safety and wellbeing. But a fresh approach is needed to designing and selecting paving for multifunctionality, sustainability and the ability to adapt to changing needs over time – as Chris Hodson of the trade association Interpave explains.

Surfaces have a big role to play in the overall look and feel of a space. In the kitchen and bathroom, in particular, practical considerations need to be made while also bearing in mind the visual impact of such visible fixtures as worktops, countertops, splashbacks and even flooring. Here, Simon Boocock, Managing Director of C. R. Laurence of Europe, takes us through the key trends in surfaces to look out for.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increased focus on renewable technologies and the part they will play in the country’s road to economic recovery as the UK ‘builds back greener’.

The latest RIBA CPD theme focuses on the ‘bubble’ that surrounds us as we live, play and work indoors. It suggests that as the physical boundary between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building, the building envelope must keep its users safe while also addressing the practicalities of day-to-day living. Many of the manufacturers and service providers which these CPDs feature are industry leaders in providing that protection. It reminds us that many of their popular seminars are still available online. Below are a selection of other pre-spring observations.

The Grenfell Tower tragedy exposed fundamental and deep-rooted issues over competency, highlighting major skills and knowledge gaps amongst those responsible for the design, construction, maintenance and day-to-day operation of buildings. In this article, Jonathan O’Neill OBE, Managing Director of the Fire Protection Association (FPA), explores whether the issue of competency has become clearer since Grenfell, and argues that a greater degree of focus must be placed on fire safety competence and accountability for those responsible for building design.

Designed by Mecanoo, The National Kaohsiung Centre for the Arts symbolises the transformation of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. What was once a major international harbour is now a modern, diverse city with a rich cultural climate. The design is located on a former military site, as an integral part of the adjacent subtropical park and has a positive social impact on the residents of Kaohsiung, whose population counts almost three million.

Baca Architects has released visuals of a floating island, the design of which was inspired by the water lilies that abound in the surrounding lake. The island will comprise units of holiday apartments and forms part of Baca’s master plan for Ashwicken Lake, a proposed new eco-resort in Norfolk, UK, which has recently been submitted for planning.

Sally Lewis describes the start of her career as an exploration of what architectural education could offer. She was a practicing Architect in South Africa by the mid-‘90s, but turned to urban design thanks to a scholarship to study in the UK. By the turn of the millennium, she had completed an MA in urban design and was in the UK for good, building up her career with roles at the likes of Llewellyn Davies, John McAslan + Partners, CABE and HTA. Here, we find out about Sally’s time in South Africa, discover the designs she’s worked on here in the UK and learn more about the opening of her firm, Stitch Architects.

The UK construction industry is continuing to weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic but is still facing ongoing challenges when it comes to design detail and the specification process. All too often, information is missing from drawings, leaving decisions to those on the ground, who may invariably take the opportunity to reduce costs by substituting products. This can lead to a loss of design intent and quality. However, it doesn’t have to be this way.