Jane Embury looks at how glass absorbs sound. During COVID-19, we became used to the sound of silence. There were fewer cars speeding past our front windows. Fewer aeroplanes in the skies above. Now, with more cars on the road and planes in the air, the sound of silence has been replaced with the sound […]
blast resistance
Foreseeing the unforeseeable
Jane Embury looks at perceptions of safety and looking to the future. If COVID-19 has taught us anything it’s that we must be better prepared. It’s a lesson that government must learn to counter any further pandemic. We should also review contingency plans for other possible events. The lesson of COVID-19 is that, while the […]
Fire safety USA
Lessons we’ve learned from fires in the USA. Every major fire teaches its own lessons. We learn from catastrophe and it’s a pity that it can take loss of life to make buildings safer. This week, we’ll look at five major fires in the USA. We’ve written about them separately before, but never in […]
Not Brexit, architecture
In the first of a two-part article on civic architecture, Jane Embury casts an eye towards the upcoming general election. In the UK, we’re on the verge of a general election, following years of Brexit chaos. However, I don’t want to talk politics. Instead, I would like to talk architecture. While Brexit dominates the political […]
Remember, remember
Tim Kempster, our managing director, casts a backward glance at the UK’s most infamous plot. Today we celebrate Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night. It’s the date in 1605 when Guy Fawkes was apprehended while guarding explosives that he and his co-conspirators had hidden under the House of Lords. It was a plot to kill […]
