All articles by Sonia Soltani
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Style council
OFFICES — Ealing borough council wanted to migrate 2,500 staff from an archipelago of offices into its headquarters, and turn that into a sexy, sustainable civic centre for the good burghers of west London. Sonia Soltani reports on how it did the job, with a little help from Pringle Brandon
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Harmonic progression
RHWL’s Arts Team has refurbished and extended Frank Matcham’s Victorian nonpareil, the Belfast Grand Opera House. Sonia Soltani reports on how the two styles have been made to work together
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At last Paris wakes from its slumber
Paris may not be celebrating the Olympics in 2012 but presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy is promising to build a string of sensational new buildings
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Eastern promise
Sonia Soltani looks at where development money is going in eastern Europe and how much of it is really for regeneration
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This season’s must-have
Sonia Soltani on the glamorous cladding transforming shopping centre car parks
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Lakesmere: We've got it covered
Lakesmere is your one-stop shop for wall cladding, roofs and glazed building envelopes. Here, director Chris Horsfall tells Sonia Soltani how it designs, installs and maintains its systems, and explains the trouble with architects …
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Anthony Minghella
The director’s latest film stars Jude Law as a designer whose life twists out of control after he opens an office in King’s Cross. Sonia Soltani finds out what happens when Hollywood tackles love, crime and regeneration
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Specifier - Regulations
SBEM, the official Part L software, was meant to make it easy to calculate the energy efficiency of any building, even ones like this. In fact, it struggles with anything more complicated than this. So what are the alternatives?
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Zero sums
HEALTH AND SAFETY — M&E contractor Emcor hasn’t got to zero accidents yet, but its safety policy is helping it move in the right direction.
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A light topping
Kicking off this week’s Specifier, Sonia Soltani found out why the intricate larch structure has been shortlisted for a Wood award
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Down on the farm
Sonia Soltani reports on how a York council building is demonstrating the eco-credentials of an unlikely building material … straw
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‘One day a £1m house will be sold on this site’
If ever there was a place ripe for regeneration it must be the former Ravenscraig steelworks. Sonia Soltani looks at the dreams for Scotland’s largest brownfield site – and the legal challenge that might prove a nasty wake-up call
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Warming to it
Geothermal energy — With the construction industry on the lookout for sustainable energy sources, geothermal energy is increasingly becoming the preferred option on projects
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Now we understand
The simple aim of persuading every member of a project team to use the same format for documents can have a huge effect on time and morale.
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How good are extranets?
It may seem that project extranets are an accepted part of project best practice, but not everyone’s using them and not everyone likes them. Sonia Soltani weighs up the pros and cons
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Who’s in charge now?
… or, how a group of bright young staff members at cost consultant Davis Langdon found themselves teaching the old board new tricks.
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Uplifting
This week, Sonia Soltani reports on an aesthetically stimulating lift shaft that helped a teaching centre meet access requirements while also cutting its budget 25%.
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Under surveillance
First, Sonia Soltani reports on the new systems that integrate CCTV, access control and more besides …
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Cutting-edge peace of mind
Who fits it — Advanced Integrated Systems’ projects include courts and airports, so it knows a thing or two about security. Below, Sonia Soltani finds out how it stays ahead in an ever-changing marketplace.
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Germany 1 England 0
… but it’s the USA and Canada that take the title. As our 99% Campaign continues, Sonia Soltani explores the energy efficiency grants and tax incentives on offer around the world