Beauty, quality, character & style

With such an abundant choice of colours, textures and styles, choosing the correct wooden floor for any build can be confusing. Peter Keane, director of wood flooring manufacturers, The Natural Wood Floor Company, looks at the benefits of wooden flooring, how... View Article

Wood burning stoves are a hot topic

Matt Hardy, showroom manager at The Heat Store Ltd, gets into the hot seat to answer questions about specifying a wood burning stove. One of the most important things to consider when having a wood burning stove installed in your... View Article

History provides a future for the retired

Instead of a shining new development for the retired, Anchor Trust and English Care Village Partnerships are using design to invent a history for an assisted living development in Hampshire, as Steve Menary reports. Ensuring good design can be achieved... View Article

Inspired by natural systems

Ventilated façades have been around for a long time. In traditional Scandinavian housing, for example, an air gap was included between the timber external wall and the internal wall, as a way of preventing these soft wood structures from rotting... View Article

Titan in its tomb

The country’s second largest ever concrete pour was needed to create a building for Cambridge’s materials scientists in which vibration could be kept to a minimum. Mark Smulian reports. It must have been a remarkable sight when 120 lorries drove... View Article

Specifying off-mains drainage

Kevin Roe, sales director of Kingspan Klargester, looks at the drainage options available for different sites. Of the country’s current stock of 25 million houses, around 1.5 million are not connected to the sewer. In all cases the first consideration... View Article

Ap-ply-ing a different pitch to roofing

By Martin Shave, business development manager for domestic roofing at Protan. Why do we build dwellings with pitched, tiled roofs? There is no law saying we have to; it is tradition, and a bad reputation for flat roofs. Yet a... View Article

SIPs – The third method of construction

By Tony Millichap, technical manager of Kingspan Insulation Limited. Conventional construction methods such as brick and block have two distinct disadvantages: programmes can become unpredictable in our wet climate, and walls are having to become thicker and thicker in order... View Article

Picking the perfect pipe

Jon Briafield at PE pipe specialist, GPS PE pipe Systems, advises on the considerations for pipe specification and the types of pipe required for different elements of a water installation. Regardless of the water pressure, geography of a site or... View Article

How to specify the right ventilation system for your project

By Kevin Hippey, general manager at Vortice Ltd What are the key issues facing housebuilders and developers with regard to ventilation systems in modern houses? With regulations, legislation and products all driving up energy efficiency in modern homes, buildings are... View Article

EcoHaus design challenge launched for 2014

Challenging convention and inspiring innovation The British Homes Awards have been pivotal in providing a catalyst for change in the way we design and construct our homes and in the process recognise and showcase exemplars of best practice In his... View Article

Don’t be afraid to face your Waterloo

Waterloo station concourse used to be a mad scrum that was daunting to all but the most seasoned commuters, but now the congestion has been eased and there are some great new shops and eating places, as James Pringle reports... View Article

Designing for the future

A cleaner, greener and more sustainable built environment at Ecobuild 2014 Each year Ecobuild hosts the most comprehensive showcase of sustainable construction products in the world. As architects, structural engineers, contractors and developers continue to play a vital role in... View Article

Versatile style

Nicola Seymour of Marbrex explores the potential of decorative yet highly practical internal cladding systems over more traditional wall coverings – from reducing labour costs and timescales to ease of installation; long-term cleaning and maintenance When it comes to creating... View Article

The importance of reducing false fire alarms

By Michala Ford, marketing manager of Safety Technology International (Europe) Ltd The problem caused by false fire alarms Every false fire alarm is costly, disruptive and detrimental to safety. Each year businesses and public services in the UK have nearly... View Article