Briefing
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FeaturesFrank Gehry: from LA experimentalist to the architect of the Bilbao effect
Ben Flatman examines how Gehry’s work evolved from local, materially driven invention into one of the most recognisable architectural vocabularies of his generation
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FeaturesHow the viability crunch is putting Britain’s housing ambitions – and design quality – under strain
Mary Richardson examines how Britain’s viability crisis is squeezing design quality and stalling the creation of real places to live
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FeaturesJack Pringle: ‘If the RIBA didn’t exist, you’d have to invent it’
RIBA chair Jack Pringle reflects on his role in stabilising the institute’s finances, implementing governance reforms and positioning architects to reclaim leadership in construction through the principal designer role
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FeaturesBuilding Safety Regulator’s backlog blitz: will it work?
After delays and mounting frustration, the regulator unveiled a bold strategy to clear thousands of stalled projects. Joey Gardiner explores whether the reforms and new leadership can overcome early missteps
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FeaturesBarr Gazetas: designing a culture of sustainability
Ben Flatman discovers how Barr Gazetas is redefining what a sustainable practice can be – from its commitment to retrofit and social value to a culture of openness and long-term responsibility within the team
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FeaturesCome with me to Clamart: a postcard from a Parisian regenerative development that really works
British ‘regeneration schemes’ could learn a lot from the Clamart Panorama brownfield development near Paris, says Nicholas Boys Smith – above all the humility to ask people what they really like
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FeaturesClosing the door on opportunity? The future of architect apprenticeships
As government funding for Level 7 architecture apprenticeships is withdrawn, Mary Richardson reports on what the decision means for students
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Features27 interesting innovations and prototypes from the Venice Biennale
Mary Richardson picks her favourite product prototypes and material experiments from the Biennale’s international exhibition – from buildings “grown” beneath the sea to bricks made of elephant dung
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FeaturesCan cuts to affordable housing targets revive London’s flatlining residential development sector?
Joey Gardiner asks whether simply reducing expectations for affordable housing will be enough to get construction going again
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FeaturesWhy they won: A closer look at all the Architect of the Year Awards 2025 winning entries
The winners of the Architect of the Year Awards were announced at a ceremony last night. Here is more detail about all the winning entries
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FeaturesToo good to waste: how Make recycled an old building to create a new one
Thomas Lane reports on how 30 Duke Street reuses steel, glass, aluminium and Portland stone from the building there before
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FeaturesLabour conference 2025: Housing secretary puts style over substance while Starmer takes aim at Reform
The government’s announcement about new towns and the housing secretary’s Trump-esque stylings put housing at the heart of the agenda at Labour’s conference in Liverpool. But there was little in the way of detail to back Steve Reed’s ‘build, baby, build’ slogan
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FeaturesSir Terry Farrell: the restless maverick who reshaped British urbanism
From the Comyn Ching Triangle to the MI6 building at Vauxhall Cross, Sir Terry Farrell’s projects challenged modernist orthodoxy and reshaped how architects thought about the city. Ben Flatman reflects on the influence and legacy of one of Britain’s most distinctive thinkers on urbanism
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FeaturesFrom the archive: Interview with Nicholas Grimshaw
To mark the death of Nicholas Grimshaw earlier this month, we are republishing this interview by Hannah Baldock, which first appeared in BD’s sister title Building in September 2000
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Features5 minutes with … David Patterson at Able Partners
The practice’s head of design on the importance of staying curious and constant, collaborative learning – and why he dislikes postwar, car-focused urban development that prioritises efficiency over quality of life.
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FeaturesHugh Strange’s choreography of construction
Hugh Strange’s striking Hastings House has just been shortlisted for the 2025 Stirling Prize. Earlier this year Oriana Fernandez went to the Barbican to hear him set out his construction-centred approach and the balance he seeks between prefabrication, craft and site conditions
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FeaturesFinding new ways to open up the city … Meet the woman behind London’s Open House festival
Mary Richardson caught up with Manijeh Verghese, the recently appointed chief executive of Open City, for a preview of some of the buildings in this year’s Open House festival
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FeaturesWhat does the appointment of Steve Reed as new housing secretary mean for housebuilding?
Angela Rayner’s replacement held the shadow housing brief in 2021 and now he returns to the role in government. But although he has promised to ‘build, baby, build’, Reed lacks the influence on Keir Starmer that his predecessor had
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FeaturesThe long road to regenerating the Carpenters Estate
In 2018, a new mayor tasked Newham’s housing company with building more affordable homes. Seven years later, it’s getting ready for its biggest scheme yet. Daniel Gayne headed east to find out more
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FeaturesHow a transport investment shortfall threatens to scupper housing delivery in London
After setting out a vision for development centred on public transit links, the mayor of London came out of the spending review empty handed. Can London build 88,000 homes a year without new infrastructure? Daniel Gayne reports.