What Specifiers Want 2017 articles

This programme will be of benefit to architects, structural engineers, project managers and construction specialists who wish to understand how concrete can be used on walls, columns, slabs and ceilings as a specified architectural finish.

We explore a definition of renewable materials and consider some common characteristics – carbon sinks, flammability and biodegradability.

This is the first camera access into a new theatre built in north London. It is the first theatre to use rooflights in the auditoriums to bring in natural light – the obvious benefits being for the technical staff to be able to work in daylight, the reduction in energy costs, the ability to use the spaces during the day for rehearsals without using loads of energy on lighting, etc.

In this programme we visit the Scale Lane Swing Bridge and see it in action as the 900 tonne structure swings over the 60m-wide Hull. We look at how the structure was designed and made and examine the bridge’s role in regenerating the eastern bank of the river.

The 2013 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, by architect Sou Fujimoto, is a metallic mesh of 27,000 bits of steel joined together to give the impression of a light, cloud-like structure. In this programme we talk to the AECOM engineers that worked alongside Fujimoto to help realise his design. We learn why the architect’s original designs had to be rapidly rationalised and how an exceedingly tight schedule ultimately dictated the final design and how it was built.

The government's Strategy for Sustainable Construction (published in June 2008) aims to reduce waste from construction, demolition and excavation (“CD & E” waste) to 50% of 2008 figures by 2012. WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Programme, has developed a Construction Waste Commitment to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and to increase the amount of recycled content used in construction.

Partnering, both on single and multiple projects, has delivered exceptional results, but it requires planning and depends on changes in behaviour that many people find challenging.

We investigate the extent to which good faith obligations might be implied into contracts and whether it's time to reassess traditional thinking on the matter.

While closer collaborative working brings a range of benefits, our research suggests there's still much more to be done to spur widespread adoption of such methods.

A summary of findings from the NBS National Construction Contracts and Law Survey 2013 and a free download of the full report.

A look at the potential fire risks that might be associated with solar electric and photovoltaic systems.

As well as looking at the properties of rammed earth, or pise, this programme asks whether concrete should be added as a stabiliser, the issue of cost, and along the way we look at some high-profile failures and successes.