Search Results for: london

Architects appointed for new Canary Wharf projects

WoodWharfA new development by Canary Wharf plc in London has appointed three architects to design its first six buildings. Allies and Morrison will create two new office buildings at Wood Wharf, Herzog &de Meuron have been commissioned to design a new residential tower and Stanton Williams will be responsible for the creation of three new residential blocks and a central courtyard. The overall mixed use scheme has been masterplanned by Terry Farrell and Partners.

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Mixed response to Government office conversion plans

As predicted earlier this week, the government has confirmed new measures that will allow office space to be converted into homes without the need for planning permission. Further reforms are also intended to help boost rural communities and create jobs by allowing agricultural buildings to be converted for other business use, such as shops, offices, restaurants or leisure facilities without the need for planning permission. But the scheme has met with a decidedly mixed response from organisations as diverse as the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and local authority chiefs.  More →

New developer ‘to create 50 per cent cheaper offices’

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Peter Rogers, left and Stuart Lipton

The high-profile new venture between two of the most prominent developers in London will focus on creating large scale office buildings that are half as cheap as current standard designs. Lipton Rogers has been formed by Stuart Lipton, formerly of Chelsfield Partners and Peter Rogers, the former technical director of Stanhope who stepped down last year. The new business will look  to put into practice the results of research commissioned in 2011 by Lipton which found that new buildings could be created far more cheaply than is currently the case.  More →

‘Visionary’ Zaha Hadid receives creative leadership award

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JUNE 09:  Zaha Hadid, world famous architect visits the Riverside Museum, her first major public commission to open in the UK on June 9, 2011 in Glasgow, Scotland. The £74million Riverside Museum will open to the public on 21 June. It has been funded by Glasgow City Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Riverside Museum Appeal.    (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)Architect Zaha Hadid has received the Aenne Burda Award for Creative Leadership at the international DLD Conference in Munich. The award honours female digital entrepreneurs for their visionary and successful ideas. Delivering the address on Zaha Hadid, Rhode Island School of Design President John Maeda said: “Leaders are needed when times are changing, creative leaders change times themselves. They make things – like Zaha. She’s unafraid to disrupt, she’s very optimistic. Today we celebrate her incredible optimism.” More →

Third of businesses see flexible work as main Olympic legacy

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Flexible working facilities brought in for London 2012 are the most important legacy of the Olympic Games for a third of businesses, according to a new BT legacy survey. The survey of 600 large private and public sector organisations across the UK found 34% are continuing to enjoy the benefits from flexible working facilities (34%), with sales/revenue for 37% higher than before the Games. When asked what they have learnt about their organisation’s capabilities, 36% think that when they are pushed they can do a lot more business, 26% are more resilient and 25% feel they could increase their margins.
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French stick: Parisians favour USB’s to filch corporate data

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Parisians are more likely to take corporate data than their UK counterparts, an “Insider Threat Survey,” by Imperva, supplier of data theft, insider abuse, and fraud solutions reveals. When those, questioned across a number of business sectors about their view on confidentiality were asked if they would personally take corporate data, 78% of respondents in Paris admitted they had, with 63% in London also confessing to the same practice. While the Parisian respondents prefer to use a USB stick (23%), in London, smart phones the favoured method (41%).
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Reversal of usual state of affairs as offices turn into homes

After years in which we have gradually seen technology and flexible working practices transform our homes into offices, the UK Government has reversed this apparently natural order of things by introducing legislative changes to the planning system that will allow developers to convert office buildings into blocks of flats without asking councils for planning permission.  The intention is to address the UK’s housing shortage and stimulate the economy. It’s also a sign that many offices are empty as both a consequence of  the downturn and changes in the way they are designed and used. More →

Europe’s commercial property investors opt for safe cities

German cities dominate the investment prospects for Europe’s commercial real estate sector as investors favour safe havens according to a new report – Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe 2013. Munich tops the league table followed closely by Berlin in second place and Hamburg in fifth position, with investors taking comfort from each of the cities’ strong local micro-economic climate and resilient property market conditions. London, which is seen by many as Europe’s safest investment, is the largest riser in this year’s report taking third position.  More →

Mayfair office plan gets green light

hanover-sq-4018Westminster Council has granted Legal and General Property (LGP) planning consent for a new West End office in London’s Hanover Square, expected to become one of Mayfair’s most sought after squares following the completion of Crossrail. The redevelopment will comprise a 56,000 sq ft high office-based scheme, arranged over two basements, ground and seven upper floors. The office element will provide typical floors of 8,200 sq ft, whilst there will also be two retail/restaurant units on the ground floor, totalling 9,300 sq ft and fronting Hanover Square.

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Cabinet for Core Cities looks to reshape the English economy

A newly formed Cabinet of Core Cities met for the first time in Liverpool on Friday, seeking to reshape England and call on the Government to work with it to maximise the economic potential of the regions by creating a more balanced economic structure for the country and develop policies that would create jobs and investment. The cities represent the urban centres of Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol and Sheffield.

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Build upon creative success urges design campaign

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The #includedesign campaign has urged policy makers to revisit proposals to include creative subjects in the English Baccalaureate and build upon the success of initiatives like Tech City. This is the ‘brand’ name for the creative technology community around Shoreditch in east London, with more than 3,000 creative tech firms, employing over 50,000 people. Last December the design industry wrote an open letter to the Secretary of State for Education warning him against the omission of Design & Technology and Art & Design from the EBacc. More →

Shard and Galaxy Soho contend for design of the year

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The Design Museum has announced the contenders for the sixth annual Designs of the Year. They include the best designs from around the world in the last 12 months across seven categories: Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Product and Transport. Selected by a panel of distinguished nominators, the awards compile the most original and exciting designs, prototypes and designers in the world today – brought together in a Design Museum exhibition from 20 March – 7 July 2013. More →