All Building Design articles in May 2025
View all stories from this issue.
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NewsPollard Thomas Edwards gets green light for next phase of £200m revamp around Hertfordshire station
300 homes have already been built at Bishop’s Stortford site
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ReviewArchitecture and Social Change: Shaping an Impactful Practice
Jan Kattein explores Brian Holland’s compelling new book, which brings together 15 practitioners reimagining architecture as a tool for justice, collaboration and civic empowerment
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OpinionDefunding architecture apprenticeships is a costly mistake that undermines the profession’s efforts to widen access
The Level 7 architecture apprenticeship has opened doors for many aspiring architects. Karen Mosley explains why cutting its funding sends the wrong message about access
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Information - BDCPD 06 2025: How glass mineral wool insulation supports net zero building design
The built environment is facing a defining challenge. As of 2021, buildings and construction activities accounted for approximately 42% of annual global CO₂ emissions, underscoring the industry’s significant share of the climate crisis. In the UK alone, construction processes were responsible for over 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions ...
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NewsFirst look at Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s V&A East Storehouse
The new four-storey facility, housed in part of the former Olympic Media Centre, opens this week
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NewsARB sets out plans to reform professional experience for trainee architects
Regulator proposes a standardised competency record and new role for learning providers in a bid to improve transparency and oversight
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NewsGovernment fast-tracks LDA Design and Fereday Pollard-designed reservoirs in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire
Schemes designated ‘nationally significant’ as part of wider efforts to unlock housing growth and address long-term infrastructure shortfalls
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Information - BDMastering the detail: Episode 3
Attention manufacturers: What does it take to become a preferred supplier for leading architects? Episode 3 of our essential webinar series gives you the inside track. Hear directly from Etain Fitzpatrick and Andy Thomas at John Robertson Architects (JRA). They will reveal what architects prioritise when specifying products and partners ...
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NewsStantec wins competition to rebuild State Tax University in Ukraine
The new campus in Irpin, west of Kyiv, is intended to act as a hub for research and regeneration following wartime destruction
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OpinionWhat’s stopping us from including contractors earlier in the design process?
Anna Beckett makes the case for treating contractors as part of the design team from the outset, suggesting that earlier collaboration could help bridge the gap between low-carbon ambition and what’s actually buildable
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NewsBirmingham city council seeks investors in Digbeth regeneration with plans for 6,000 homes
The new prospectus outlines 10 development sites across 35 plots, targeting long-term investment near HS2 Curzon Street
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NewsArchitecture apprenticeships under threat as Level 7 funding withdrawn for over-21s
Source: Shutterstock
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NewsIn pictures: Fathom completes one of Clerkenwell’s largest heritage office projects
The 70,000sqft scheme combines four buildings into a single development
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OpinionFrom the Great Fire to Grenfell: How fire has shaped building regulation in Britain
Liam Ross traces the shifting relationship between regulation, risk and design, revealing how fire has continually reshaped our cities
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Features‘We’re like the Borrowers, nobody knows we’re here’: How Populous’ new Man City stand will be built without the fans noticing
The contactor has been busy working behind the scenes at the Etihad. This summer the team will finally get their time on the pitch - and will have to make it count
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FeaturesVelux repurposes timber warehouse into low-carbon innovation hub
A 30-year-old timber warehouse in Østbirk, Denmark, has been converted into Velux Group’s new innovation centre, now known as LKR Innovation House. The facility, which reuses over half of its original materials, will host around 500 employees working on product development, including roof windows and accessories.
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OpinionSeventeen years on: why England needs a new National Play Strategy
Eugene Minogue, Executive Director of Play England Just over seventeen years ago, on 2 April 2008, the last Labour government launched England’s first, and only, National Play Strategy. Ed Balls and Andy Burnham, both secretaries of state at the time, quite literally swung into action at an ...
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ReviewBeyond the optics: identity, class and the politics of equality in architecture and the arts
Amin Taha dissects the latest edition of Five Critical Essays, weighing the value of intellectual dissent against the blind spots of culture-war rhetoric
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OpinionEngland is failing to plan for its ageing population – the spending review must put that right
The government’s spending review must treate housing for older people as core infrastructure and deliver targeted funding, writes Bruce Moore
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NewsPAS 24 update introduces stricter security testing for windows and doors
The PAS 24 standard, which defines enhanced security performance criteria for windows and doorsets, has been updated to reflect modern burglary techniques. The latest revision, PAS 24:2022+A1:2024, includes a new test method designed to evaluate resistance to current attack strategies, with a specific focus on lock cylinder vulnerabilities.