All articles by Thomas Lane
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CommentThe net zero carbon buildings standard: tough but achievable?
The new standard is the most ambitious attempt to limit carbon emissions from buildings to date. What is behind it, and when will it start to make a difference?
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FeaturesSpace House: 1960s icon gets another chance to shine
Centrepoint鈥檚 little sister was realised by the same architect and developer and built with similar pioneering techniques. Neglected for the past four decades, a recent refurbishment restores and celebrates the building鈥檚 groundbreaking architectural qualities
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FeaturesPicking up Carillion鈥檚 pieces: how Balfour Beatty finally finished the Midland Metropolitan University Hospital
West Birmingham鈥檚 new super hospital has just opened, six years later than planned following the failure of Carillion in 2018. Thomas Lane visits the new building to find out how the team overcame multiple problems, and to see what the finished project is like
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FeaturesHinkley Point C: 好色先生TV Britain鈥檚 first nuclear reactor in 30 years
Like its Finnish and French twins, Hinkley Point C has suffered from cost overuns and delays. What are the team doing to claw back the losses and what does this mean for Sizewell C?
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FeaturesThe Tribeca brick: Made from earth and water but (crucially) no fire
London鈥檚 largest life sciences project is trialling the use of a low carbon earth brick for the basement walls of the first phase. It could be a game-changer for schemes looking to radically reduce their carbon footprint.聽Thomas Lane聽reports
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FeaturesHow do you fix a grade I listed Oxford college built from RAAC?
All the roofs at St Catherine鈥檚 College were recently condemned thanks to the presence of RAAC. Thomas Lane reports on how the team came up with a solution that didn鈥檛 affect the historical significance of the Arne Jacobsen-designed campus
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CommentWill Labour鈥檚 proposed planning changes help to deliver more homes?
This week has been dominated by housing policy including a new towns task force and proposals to build more homes in more places including the green belt.聽Thomas Lane assesses what implications the proposals may have for new housing supply
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FeaturesBritish Land鈥檚 resurrection of Norton Folgate
Blossom Street was the focus of a vitriolic planning battle. But British Land has confounded the fears of Spitalfields residents by sensitively restoring many of the old buildings
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FeaturesThe making of Egham: how to pull a town centre up by its bootstraps
Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and Runnymede council have delivered a mixed-use scheme that aims to reverse the slow decline of this busy Surrey town. Thomas Lane reports
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FeaturesLearning on the job: how Wales is leading the way with net zero schools
The Vale of Glamorgan council and ISG have spent the past 10 years refining and monitoring their standardised school solution and have now gone from gas guzzlers to carbon negative, Thomas Lane reports
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FeaturesIt鈥檚 M&S鈥檚 Oxford Street neighbour 鈥� and it鈥檚 being refurbished, not demolished
The former House of Fraser store is just half a mile from the M&S flagship which the retailer controversially wants to knock down and rebuild. Thomas Lane meets the team to find out how they are making the refurbishment work聽
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FeaturesWhy the industry needs another net zero carbon buildings standard
David Partridge has been tasked with bringing together construction鈥檚 many and varied definitions of net zero. He tells Thomas Lane why setting a recognised and easily understood benchmark for whole-life carbon emissions is so important聽
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FeaturesFashion statement 鈥� London college becomes first to make its new home on the waterfront
The London College of Fashion has brought its six separate sites under one roof for the first time in more than 100 years. Tom Lane reports
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FeaturesHow digital twins are cutting carbon emissions for the Ministry of Justice
Digital twins have the potential to operate buildings more efficiently than traditional facilities management systems. The MoJ is trialling the technology at its Five Wells prison and the early indications are looking good
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好色先生TVCat A fitouts are two and a half times more carbon intensive than previously thought, research reveals
The study, carried out by AHMM, challenges the assumptions made in the聽RICS Whole Life Carbon Assessment which has become the industry standard for calculating carbon emissions
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CommentTo retain or rebuild? M&S case shows the industry needs rules
The High Court ruling overturning Michael Gove鈥檚 decision to deny聽M&S permission to redevelop its Oxford Street store shows that a framework setting out the conditions for redevelopment is urgently needed
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FeaturesVictoria House: from life insurance to the sciences of life
The grand former headquarters of the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society is being converted into a state-of-the-art life sciences laboratory.聽 Thomas Lane reports on an unlikely reinvention
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Features好色先生TV The Future Commission: Time to prepare for the next digital revolution
Last week the 好色先生TV the Future commission published its final report. In this chapter, Thomas Lane considers聽the best ways to increase productivity by investing in and embracing emerging technologies 聽
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Features好色先生TV the Future Commission: Powering down the road to net zero
After a year of consultation and consideration, last week the 好色先生TV the Future commission published its final report. In this chapter, Thomas Lane considers how the industry can聽reduce its carbon emissions and implement greener methods of energy use and production聽
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FeaturesFaster, better and less disruptive: the next chapter in Mace鈥檚 manufacturing journey
The contractor wants to bring DfMA discipline to high-rise residential projects for the same cost as traditional build.聽