All Building Design articles in BD Plus Envelope July 2006

View all stories from this issue.

  • Opinion

    Virtual verdicts

    2006-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Software solutions have emerged to help architects test their facades against revised Part L. BDP’s Chris Yates takes a look ‘under the bonnet’

  • Technical

    Taking the strain

    2006-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Load-bearing facades have never quite gone away, but they may now be giving curtain walls a run for their money. Jes Fernie looks at buildings that bear their structure on their sleeves

  • Technical

    The magic numbers

    2006-07-14T00:00:00Z

    It’s not just the golden section — architects often use complex mathematical sequences as inspiration for their designs. David Littlefield reports on the latest schemes to find their forms from numbers

  • Technical

    ‘L’ stands for leakage

    2006-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Airtightness could be a much more effective solution to energy efficiency and reducing CO2 than insulation, according to overdue research on meeting Part L.

  • Building Study

    Tokyo’s jewel box

    2006-07-14T00:00:00Z

    Whether you see it as a box of mysteries or a lump of nougat, RIBA Gold Medallist Toyo Ito’s jewellery store in Tokyo’s Ginza district is nine storeys of surprises.

  • Technical

    Up, up and away

    2006-07-14T00:00:00Z

    The Serpentine Pavilion, always a chance to show off, is this year an ethereal balloon — light enough to float yet structurally robust. Will Jones explains how Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond did it