Jane Embury looks back twenty years The 20th anniversary of 9/11 takes place in a few weeks. That grim milestone should also still cast an uncomfortable spotlight on the safe evacuation of buildings. Because it’s an issue that should be of concern now. Some contractors are reducing specifications for 60 minutes of integrity and insulation […]
public sector
Building for a resilient future
Jane Embury looks back to look forward Last week, the UK marked a year from the first Covid-19 lockdown. It was a solemn milestone, looking back on tragic events within families and communities. But looking back is also an opportunity to look ahead with a new perspective, whether as individuals, companies or countries. Because there’s […]
Codifying for social safety
Jane Embury welcomes a white paper on safety in social housing. Sometimes it takes a disaster in which lives are lost for building or fire regulations to change. Over the years it has come to be called ‘codifying by catastrophe’. It sometimes seems that it’s the only way in which improvements to public safety are […]
A toxic legacy for public building design?
In a two-part article, Jane Embury looks at the future of architecture in civic building. Here, she looks at the toxic legacy of COVID-19 that may shape civic architecture. Coronavirus has touched every aspect of our personal and working lives. Its effects will probably be felt for years to come. While the country struggles back […]
First signs of optimism
After the worst of times, we may now be seeing better times ahead for the construction sector. As we’ve said, the value of the construction industry is often overlooked, even by the Office of National Statistics. But, as the Chartered Institute of Building makes clear in a new report, the sector accounts for about 6% […]
