Jane Embury, director, 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 […]
public sector
A toxic legacy for public building design?
In a two-part article, Jane Embury, director, 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 […]
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% […]
Arson in schools
Chris Peters, chief design manager, looks at arson in schools and some simple steps to minimise risk and damage. Last November fire badly damaged Peebles High School in the Scottish Borders. At its height, some 70 firefighters worked to contain the blaze. However, the good news is that pupils will start to return to their […]
Wrightstyle and security glazing for retail safety
Security Glazing – Retail It’s approaching that time of year when shops and shopping centres will experience their busiest period, and when nobody in the retail sector can be complacent about security. It’s worth remembring that the outgoing Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said very recently that a terrorist attack like those seen this […]