All specification focus articles
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NewsBehind the scenes of Levitt Bernstein’s considered upgrade of LSO St Luke’s
As Levitt Bernstein completes the latest phase of works at St Luke’s – the London Symphony Orchestra’s home for performance, recording and education – we talk to Mark Lewis, the firm’s arts studio director, to hear more about the unique challenges of specifying the latest audio equipment in a Grade ...
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NewsNew tool launched to streamline installation of masonry support systems
The Griplock from Grayson promises to speed up the process, improve on-site safety and and turn a two-person job into a task that can be done solo
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FeaturesVelux’s Innovation House is full of the firm’s windows – but there’s so much more to this inspiring warehouse retrofit, as a new book about the project shows
Velux’s innovation centre has many lessons to teach about adaptive reuse and timber construction. To mark the publication of More Than a House: An Experiment in Transformation, which tells the story of the sustainable transformation, I went along to take a look
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NewsCase study: JRA’s 20 Gresham Street – creative office refurbishment
Rossella Faraci and Andy Thomas, project directors at John Robertson Architects (JRA), talk us through the firm’s refurb of 20 Gresham Street in the City of London – a successful example of creative office retrofit. They explain how light-touch interventions transformed the foyer into a social space with an art ...
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OpinionInclusive workplace design – designing for dignity, not just access
Mark Shepherd argues accessible workplace design must move beyond basic compliance if it to support autonomy and enable equal participation
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Information - BDCPD 04 2026: Fire safety for roofs and rooftop solar
Sponsored by ROCKWOOL®, this module explores the regulatory context and functional fire performance of roofs, highlighting the influence of specification decisions and looking at the fire safety implications when flat roofs are used as amenity space and to house photovoltaics
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NewsCertification scheme for audio-inclusive design launched
A new scheme will offer independent verification of buildings’ audio inclusivity post occupancy
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OpinionSecurity by design – rethinking public spaces in the era of Martyn’s Law
Richard Hilson says architects can use the principles of crime prevention through environmental design to make public spaces safer, using spatial planning, circulation logic, and environmental cues to reduce vulnerability, support risk assessment obligations, and enhance user confidence
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OpinionDesigning for tomorrow means delivering beyond compliance today
Manuela Fazzan argues architects, specifiers and developers must got beyond basic compliance to embed resilience, adaptability and sustainability into new homes if they are to meet future as well as current housing needs
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OpinionCan the Future Homes and Buildings Standard deliver on its promise?
The homes element of just launched new energy regulations promises big savings on bills. It’s a pity that the benefits will come too late to help with the impact of the current energy crisis, writes Thomas Lane
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OpinionWhy texture is replacing flat surfaces in modern interiors
Paul Moody explains what’s behind the trend away from smooth surfaces towards texture in interior design
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Information - BDIn pictures: Campfield – adaptive reuse of Victorian market halls as tech hub and workspaces
The Campfield project sees a pair of Manchester market halls retrofitted with contemporary insertions to give the iron and glass structures new life as a tech hub/workspace with a public market area. We talked to the designer to learn about some of the challenges of this type of heritage retrofit
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OpinionWith healthcare buildings facing tougher conditions, how can performance keep up?
As healthcare buildings are asked to do more, under more extreme weather conditions and with less margin for error, Colin Rees argues the solution lies in using digital tools to narrow the gap between design intent and operational reality
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Information - BDWienerberger Denton set to become world’s first hydrogen brick-kiln plant
Wienerberger has secured government funding for what is thought to be the world’s first commercial-scale hydrogen kilns at its brickworks in Denton, Greater Manchester
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NewsIn pictures: John Puttick Associates’ Preston Vault Youth Zone – fun foil to the city’s famous bus station, with striking interiors by Ben Kelly
The newly completed Preston Vault Youth Zone marks the final chapter in more than a decade of civic renewal work in the city for John Puttick Associates, which was originally founded to refurbish the famous Brutalist bus station across the road from this striking new youth centre
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NewsDemonstrator homes from different eras to provide retrofit data for social housing
A research and demonstrator project at Liverpool John Moores University is set to offer practical data-driven insights on retrofitting homes of different ages
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NewsOpportunities and threats for wider UK hardwood use explored at V&A event
Ways to scale the use of UK hardwood in construction were unpacked at a V&A museum symposium that tackled the question: what if our built environment was shaped by local, climate-resilient, mixed-species forest? The audience heard about projects across the country that are facilitating the use of homegrown timber – ...
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NewsIn pictures: West London House by Goldstein Heather – intelligent extension with subtle historical allusions
Goldstein Heather’s West London House serves subtle echoes of the past and, just perhaps, a taste of the future
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NewsContractors turn to time-lapse video for social media promotion and project monitoring
In our social media dominated world, built-environment firms are choosing time-lapse video as a way to showcase their work
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OpinionNatural does not necessarily mean durable: why we need to think again about how we specify stone
Kristian Goodenough makes the case for rethinking how stone is specified – better informed by geology, performance characteristics and detailing