Mary Richardson
NewsMore picks from the Surface Design Show
Here’s a second batch of finds and innovations from the Surface Design Show 2026
NewsIn pictures: Florentia Village shows value of colour and placemaking branding
Florentia Village, a makers’ community in north London, has been transformed through a major upgrade and extension by Turner Works. The 3.5-acre former textile-manufacturing site has been revitalised to form a vibrant makers’ campus with a distinctive visual identity created by place-branding agency DNCO
NewsUK’s first circular construction hub launches in Royal Docks
The project will take in waste construction materials and process them for reuse, preventing waste and saving carbon. It aims to become the largest such project in Europe
NewsNew Masonry Association technical committee raises concerns over zero-compression cavity fire barriers
First guidance from Masonry Association’s new technical committee raises concerns about the increasing use of zero-compression cavity fire barriers, which it believes present a foreseeable long-term life-safety risk
NewsIn pictures: conversion of iconic former US embassy into luxury hotel
The transformation of the former American embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square into a luxury hotel recently completed after more than a decade’s work
NewsArchitectural lighting and restraint: why less light can achieve more
Architectural lighting designers are under increasing pressure to meet apparently incompatible demands: the desire for ever greater spectacle, and mounting concern about energy use and light pollution. To understand how the profession is responding to this tension, we spoke to Keith Bradshaw, CEO of Speirs Major, whose practice has spent ...
![Tarmac launches CEVO Asphalts Carbon Calculator for instant data on embodied carbon of asphalt mixes 02[87].jpg](https://d3rcx32iafnn0o.cloudfront.net/Pictures/100x67/9/7/6/2023976_tarmaclaunchescevoasphaltscarboncalculatorforinstantdataonembodiedcarbonofasphaltmixes0287.jpg_435882.jpg)
NewsTarmac calculator shows carbon savings from new asphalt mixes
A new online carbon calculator from Tarmac supports lower-carbon choices and easier sustainability reporting by enabling instant calculation of embodied carbon for the firm’s lower-carbon asphalt mixes
News10 interesting finds at Surface Design 2026
Here’s our round-up of some of the most interesting ideas and coolest products from the Surface Design Show 2026
NewsIntergenerational housing scheme gives students cheaper rent in exchange for befriending older neighbours
A new intergenerational housing development by Levitt Bernstein offering students cheaper rent in exchange for being “good neighbours” to the older residents with whom they share the blocks
NewsIn pictures: Wishing Well by Fieldwork Architects – run-down bungalow transformed using rammed earth
Fieldwork Architects has turned a dilapidated dormer bungalow on Jersey’s windswept west coast into a beautiful contemporary beach house using rammed earth and local granite
NewsTobermore launches hard-landscaping advice hub
Tobermore’s new online support hub, Create & Construct, aims to give landscape designers, architects, civil engineers, local authority teams and groundworkers access to a range of tools, services, resources and advice to support every stage of a landscaping project
NewsIn pictures: Clay Rise – contemporary vernacular family home with a twist
This self-build home from new architecture and interiors practice Templeton Ford is an exemplar of contemporary vernacular in a picturesque West Sussex village
NewsIn pictures: Druid Grove – CAN's creative home for an artist
CAN turns London terrace into an eclectic, expressive home fit for an artist
NewsGiles Miller installation brightens biotech building
As the British artist/designer’s latest work – a kinetic sculpture formed of almost 5000 individual aluminium petals – is installed on a new biotech hub in San Francisco, we look back at some of his other place-making pieces
NewsConcealed fixings for Hardie panels now available
James Hardie, maker of fibre cement facade cladding, has launched a new concealed fixing system for its Hardie Panel cladding
Inspirations25 years of Northern Ireland’s best builds
Check out a quarter century of award-winning architecture in Northern Ireland
NewsRoot And Erect’s new King’s Cross play area features sustainable construction, materials and lighting innovation
Double-helix play structures in the new sculptural playscape in Chilton Square are inspired by the nearby Francis Crick Institute
NewsReglazing National Maritime Museum courtyard delivers cooling benefits
The 2,550m2 glass roof over the central Ocean Court at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich has been reglazed in a refurbishment that has reduced temperatures and noise levels inside the attraction’s busiest space
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
NewsZero Laitance addition to Gypsol screed range
LKAB Minerals launches a new laitance-free floor screed it claims can cut labour and material costs by 66%*