After reviewing ecobuild in issue 17 - and noting a lot of school groups in attendance, as well as several stands with confusing technical detail - this month I decided to look at whether building physics and performance would be a useful addition to the school curriculum.
Read MoreBrewing Up a Side Project
The front page of this website says I subscribe to the idea of side projects, yet since embracing self-employment I’ve provided little evidence of anything remotely approaching a ‘side hustle’. Today that changes. Today I’m proud to introduce you to a little-known thing I like to call ‘beer’.
Read MoreMan Alive!
Our social groups should have a positive effect, not hold us back. We need to share our stories because we are individual. One of the big messages of Man Up is that we share experiences, not opinions. Bottling things up and being someone we’re not is unhealthy. We need to laugh and cry and feel things because we are human beings.
Read MoreInsulate Magazine, Issue 17
Also in issue 17, I take a look at the language of insulation, and ask whether the traditional model of manufacturers delivering CPD presentations really works. These topics never go out of fashion, and are ones I'd particularly like to encourage feedback on, from all readers.
Read MoreMaking Space(s) for Creativity
Sky-high land prices and poor quality existing building stock make it difficult for anybody to find healthy, comfortable and affordable places to live. For people in the creative industries, finding both places to live and studios or performance spaces that are fit for purpose is particularly difficult.
Read MoreLight in the Middle of the Tunnel
In the peaks of its different phases, Array represented a battle of wills and philosophies: order vs chaos; geometric vs fluid; bleak colourscapes vs rainbows. At one point, a dazzling light display was instantaneously supplanted by a static, imposing red and black colour scheme. The sense of oppression, of an unseen authority reasserting its dominance, was palpable.
Read MoreWhat do you do if you see a spaceman?
This isn’t a minimalism blog. I’m not here to pass comment on how people live their lives. What I am interested in is: how much space do we actually need versus how much space we want?
Read MoreMaking the Leap: Three Months In
Three months since making the leap seemed like a good time to take stock and share some of what has interested me lately. If you get some value from any of these links, or come across something you think might interest me, let me know! Contact details are at the front of the site, and social media links are at the foot of every page. Here's to the next three months!
Read MoreInsulate Magazine, Issue 15
This month's edition includes another two features penned by my fair hand. The first looks at whether the trends in diesel car sales can teach us anything about stimulating demand for better quality housing. The second asks whether offsite construction methods are finally ready to become mainstream - and if they are, can they deliver that better quality?
Read More"Totally Dependent on Air Conditioning" (a podcast recommendation)
The designing out of passive cooling strategies - vernacular features developed to keep building occupants cool pre-air conditioning - has resulted in buildings that couldn't function if the AC was removed. And as the episode, and its accompanying write-up, says: in the USA, the total greenhouse emissions of air conditioning units are more than the country's construction industry.
Read MoreInsulate Magazine, Issue 14
Issue 14 of Insulate, the only magazine dedicated to the insulation sector of the construction industry, marks my first in the new position of Technical Editor.
Read MoreDiscovering the Barbican
Inspired by the portrait of an apparent utopia - an architectural vision realised in its entirety, and somewhere that creativity and inspiration continues to flourish - I vowed to visit the Estate next time I was in London. That opportunity arose at the end of June 2017.
Read MoreDefining Innovation
You can’t move for construction companies and product manufacturers proclaiming themselves to be innovative - to the extent that the word is rendered empty and meaningless.
Read MoreMaking an Exhibition of Ourselves
Based on similar presenting experiences in recent years, however, I’m also left wondering if a level of … mistrust … towards manufacturers remains, regardless of the ratio of educational content to overt promotion. No type of construction product appears to be immune to a muted reaction, even if the content is genuine and well-intended.
Read MoreCritics of Secret Cinema Aren't Real Film Fans
I won't deny: the negative opinions left me wondering whether I should be shelling out for a ticket. I'm not a die-hard Star Wars fan; I can give or take the fact that there's a new one coming out at Christmas. So what kind of over-privileged middle-class type does it make me when I'm prepared to jump on board the hype train?
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