View Point: Neal Maxwell of Changing Streams

LISTEN HERE 🔊 Neal Maxwell explains how a trip to the Arctic led him to found Changing Streams, with a mission to persuade the construction industry to end its ‘plastic pandemic’ You cannot solve the climate crisis unless you address... View Article

Four house renovations that add value

When it comes to selling your house, you need to make it look put together before you can let potential buyers come in and have a look at your property. Renovations are important to get done because the house might... View Article

Seeing a smart future beyond the pandemic

Neil McSporran of NSG Group discusses how ‘smart’ antimicrobial glass for tackling infections beyond the pandemic, and how smarter building materials will help designers to create safer environments Curbing the transmission of diseases will be a priority for those who... View Article

Ask the Architect: Damien Lee of WGP Architects

Damien Lee of WGP Architects answers ADF’s questions about what drives him, and how he has tackled the challenges posed by the pandemic What made you want to become an architect? I grew up with architecture in the blood. I... View Article

New roofing concept achieves prestigious verification

Ultrapanel Technologies has become the first ‘room in the roof’ specialist in the UK to secure both BBA Certification and the prestigious NHBC Accepts mark for its offsite manufactured Ultrapanel® roofing system. Ultrapanel is a totally new precision engineered patented concept in roofing... View Article

The natural solution

Charlie Sharman of Cantifix discusses how the recent months have reminded us how much we need sunlight, and how glass technology innovations can help architects design for maximised natural light There are many lessons we can take from 2020 about... View Article

DfMA: the great offsite hope

LISTEN HERE 🔊 With productivity in construction a more acute problem than other sectors, Nigel Ostime of Hawkins\Brown says that architects need to embrace offsite Design for Manufacture and Assembly as the panacea which also delivers the quality they want... View Article

Experts encourage construction to embrace new energy assessment

Building consultancy, C80 Solutions Ltd, has teamed up with electric heating manufacturer, ThermoSphere, to launch TalkSAP10, a new initiative helping the construction sector to understand and embrace a major change in the way energy performance is assessed in residential developments.... View Article

UK Government announce New Green Building Targets

The UK government recently revealed plans to improve the energy performance of new homes. In the announcement on 19 January, Hosing Minister Chris Pincher said that the aim is for all new builds to be: “…highly energy efficient, with low... View Article

Four benefits of upvc windows for your property

upvc – short for unplasticized polyvinyl chloride – is a material often used for window frames and sills when installing double glazed windows to a property. It is a cheap, low maintenance material that can be used as an alternative... View Article

Guide to Fire Safety Regulations

Many people perceive fire to be a rare incident, thus the general slack attitude to safety regulations.  However, fire accidents cause thousands of companies to suffer immense devastation each year. In England alone, the Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) attended... View Article

Site Lines: Affordable homes-on-sea

Lee Davies of architects Conran and Partners explores how an East Sussex council’s initiative produced an exemplar partnership which employs an innovative design solution to tackle the local housing crisis Last year marked 100 years since the introduction of the... View Article

Property – what buyers are looking for in 2021

It’s no surprise that our relationship with our homes has changed over the last year. In 2020, many of us were at home more than we have ever been. The property market has changed too. With the stamp duty holiday... View Article

Overview of construction in the UK throughout 2020

This year, construction companies across the United Kingdom have experienced unanticipated growth. Although this industry is usually steadfast, the rates of growth have fluctuated greatly throughout the year. At the beginning of the pandemic, many companies halted projects because of... View Article

View Point: Assael Architecture

LISTEN HERE 🔊 With plans to house the UK’s growing elderly population in new town centre developments recently making the news, Assael Architecture explains why it’s the right solution, giving a key recent example You would be forgiven for thinking... View Article

How to Protect OSB from Rain

If you need to utilise Oriented Strand Board (OSB) to sheathe your shed’s walls, then you would need to construct those walls like the walls of a house. This means you would need to use a moisture-resistant barrier over the... View Article

Top five locations of the world for architecture lovers

Many popular and beautiful areas of the world are known for different things. Ancient and beautiful buildings are visited by tourists coming from different parts of the world. What they appreciate the most is the Architecture of a building. A... View Article

Steel windows’ split personality

Darren Lloyd of the Steel Window Association looks ahead at how the separate properties inherent to steel windows help them take key new roles beyond the pandemic The terms ‘heritage,’ ‘high performance’ or even ‘futuristic’ are all applicable to the... View Article

Ask The Architect: Aqua Architecture

Alia Beyg of Aqua Architecture answers ADF’s questions on running a ‘niche’ practice, and what the future might hold for her firm Why did you become an Architect? From a young age I loved to draw, and I became fascinated... View Article