The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) today (Wednesday 24 September) announced the 2015 RIBA Honorary Fellowships which will be awarded to thirteen individuals from a diverse spectrum of backgrounds, including the worlds of engineering, media, education and the arts. RIBA Honorary Fellowships are awarded annually to people who have made a particular contribution to architecture in its broadest sense. This includes its promotion, administration and outreach; and its role in building more sustainable communities and in the education of future generations. The 2015 RIBA Honorary Fellowships will be awarded to: Professor Peter Carl, academic, London Metropolitan University Marilyn Dyer, Architectural Association Registrar Gerald Hines, Founder and Chairman of HINES Niall Hobhouse, client and curator Kurt W Forster, architectural historian Ola Kolehmainen, artist Ian Latham, publisher and writer Frosso Pimenides, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, British Council Peter Sweasey, television producer Mark Swenarton, architectural historian and critic Neil Thomas, structural engineer Dalibor Vesely, academic  The lifetime honour allows recipients to use the initials Hon FRIBA after their name. The 2015 RIBA Honorary Fellowships will be awarded at a special event at the RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1 on 3 February 2015. ENDS Notes to editors For further press information contact Howard Crosskey in the RIBA Press Office: 020 7307 3761 howard.crosskey@riba.org Honorary Fellowships are awarded by the RIBA each year to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the quality of architecture, the achievements of the profession and the aims and objectives of the RIBA. Any person who is not an architect may be nominated by RIBA members and elected as an Honorary Fellow. The 2014 RIBA Honours Committee who selected the 2015 fellows was chaired by RIBA President Stephen Hodder with Joseph Rykwert, Benedetta Tagliabue, Eric Parry and Louisa Hutton. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members. Visit www.architecture.com and follow us on Twitter. RIBA Honorary Fellows 2015 citations:  Prof Peter Carl, Head of PhD Programme, London Metropolitan University Peter Carl is one of the most influential teachers of architecture at work today. He studied architecture at Princeton, receiving his M Arch in 1973. As a Prix de Rome scholar he spent two years studying the architectural history of Rome from its origins to the creation of the new town of EUR. He then taught at the University of Kentucky until 1979. Under the Deanship of Anthony Eardley his primary subject was the origins of architecture, and among his teaching colleagues was Daniel Libeskind. During that time he took part in the Roma Interrotta, a re-imagining of the 18th century plan of city of Rome, with Colin Rowe. In 1979 he moved to the University of Cambridge, teaching design and the graduate programme in History and Philosophy of Architecture with Dalibor Vesely, Joseph Rykwert and Wendy Pullan. He also ran studios with the likes of David Leatherbarrow, Mohsen Mostafavi and Eric Parry, exploring the issues of orientation in London and other European cities.  His work at Cambridge deepened our understanding of cities from their origins to the present day. After 20 years, Peter became director of the PhD programme in the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Design, London Metropolitan University. His PhD course combines concrete design issues with their cultural significance. Peter has always placed architecture in a wider cultural context. At Princeton his research into the nature of architectural meaning, supervised by Michael Graves led to an unpublished paper, Thematic Organisation, and he is currently working with Frederick Phillipson on a book on Practical Wisdom and Joyce’s Dublin. And during a sabbatical from Cambridge he spent time researching Plato, Aristotle, and Judeo-Christian primary texts.  But time and again his thinking, his writing and his teaching have returned to Le Corbusier – for him one of the last architects to care about the traditional inheritance of architecture and to re-think it creatively.                                         Marilyn Dyer – Registrar AA Marilyn commenced her employment at the Architectural Association in 1970 as a co-ordinator for the Centre of Advanced Studies in Environment (providing short courses for professionals), at the time when the AA was proposing an amalgamation with Imperial College. From 1971 she worked under the leadership of the incoming Chairman of the AA, Alvin Boyarsky. Over a period of four decades Marilyn has worked with four different Chairmen: Alvin Boyarsky, Alan Balfour, Mohsen Mostafavi and Brett Steele. In that time she has been responsible for the administration and co-ordination of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Environment, Professional Practice, the School’s Facilities, its Graduate School, the Undergraduate School, Admissions and Accounts. She has also acted as its Assistant Registrar and for the last 14 years its Registrar. It is true to say that the AA is always evolving and over the last few decades the AA has increased its Graduate Programmes which are validated by the Open University for the awarding of degrees. The Undergraduate Programme has continued its validation of the five year undergraduate programme through the RIBA and ARB prescription.  The School is now academically recognised by the Quality Assurance Agency.  The Immigration status for international students has been a major challenge for the AA but to date the School holds a Highly Trusted Sponsor Status and received a clean bill of health by the Immigration officials that visited the School, unannounced, in October 2013. This is a vastly challenging and changing scene from the one which greeted Marilyn Dyer when she first entered the door of 36 Bedford Square. And none of this would have been possible without her expertise, clear thinking and humour. Kurt W Forster – architectural historian Kurt W Forster is an historian, critic, writer and teacher. He is a Swiss citizen who studied at universities in Switzerland, Germany, England and Italy, graduating in history of art and architecture, literature and archaeology at the University

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Residential sales in Hong Kong increased by 45% month on month in March from their lowest level in 25 years, reaching 17,106, according to the latest data from the Land Registry. The rise was attributable to a number of primary project launches after Chinese New Year and a reviving resales market, with some flat owners willing to cut prices, says the latest market analysis from international real estate firm Knight Frank. As a result, prices fell further, with official figures showing that home prices had decreased for five consecutive months, for a cumulative decline of 11%. But the market continued to polarise, with the luxury sector remaining relatively resilient, it explains. Reported landmark deals of the month included an en-bloc transaction at South Bay Close in Repulse Bay for HK$668 million, or about HK$30,000 per square foot and a unit in Cluny Park in Mid-Levels West, which sold for over HK$53,000 per square foot, the highest price in the development. With potential buyers expecting increasing supply and a further drop in home prices, residential sales are expected to fall to around 50,000 units this year. ‘Although luxury home prices overall are expected to drop 5% this year, prices of super luxury houses and apartments should remain firm. Mass market prices could drop up to 10% in 2016,’ the report says. In the prime office market a lack of available space continued to limit Grade A leasing activity, the report also shows. To avoid high rents in Central, some firms with a long presence in the area relocated to non-core areas as they became increasingly cost conscious, the report explains. It also points out that high office rents in Central have been supported by a lack of supply rather than strong demand as office leasing demand from both domestic and overseas firms has weakened in recent months. The Kowloon Grade A office leasing market saw a number of relocation deals involving insurance sourcing companies in March. Office rents in Kowloon East, however, have been under increasing pressure from the increasing supply coming on line, the report says. ‘Despite the economic uncertainties in Hong Kong and the mainland, office rents in decentralised areas could drop 5% in 2016 due to abundant supply in the pipeline. This polarisation trend is expected to continue until the new supply is absorbed and the market regains balance,’ the report adds. It also says that notable declines in retail sales and visitor arrivals continued to put pressure on retail property rents and adds that the retail property landscape will continue to evolve to cope with the downturn. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE (What is this?)      Source link

Senior Security Consultant at Restrata, Claire McDonald, explains how Project Owners, Architects, and Developers could benefit from improved efficiency and a reduction in costs incurred after construction has started, by engaging a security consultant in the early stages of the design process. During my professional career, I have worked on numerous projects across the Middle East and in the UK. The stage at which the security consultant is engaged tends to vary greatly, covering various phases of planning and design, and in the worst case, after construction has commenced. It has become apparent that when engaged once construction has begun, or even in latter design phases, it becomes increasingly difficult to implement a sound security strategy, and the cost of doing so tends to be higher than if security had been considered properly from the outset of the project. There are multiple stages to the design process, as outlined by RIBA. Best practice dictates that security should be considered across each of these stages, however, we typically find ourselves engaged at stage 5, which is considered too late in the process for the provision of security protection objectives. When these security protection objectives are then considered and solutions are sought, it tends to cause issues for all involved, more so when construction has started as retrofit can be both costly, and have a negative impact on the aesthetics of the building. The first step once engaged at a later phase in the project, is to undertake a security risk assessment to fully understand the current threat profile and identify which threats have been effectively mitigated and where the gaps are. In general, a security consultant considers a number of security design principles for the built environment, these include: Deter, Detect, Delay/Denial, Response and Recover (DDDRR), CPTED, the SSPM bets practice manual from the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), the relevant country federal standards and blast mitigation. Typically, the issues that arise could have been prevented had security been considered at the start, or at least handled in a more cost-efficient manner. Building orientation is a perfect example; on a recent project, the design failed to consider multiple security elements, from the vehicle entrances and exits that had no provision for vehicle denial measures or searching and screening of vehicles, to the lift access which did not consider security in any way, meaning unauthorized personnel or members of the public could access floors they shouldn’t. On another project, the threat profile for the region meant that a blast assessment should have been carried out. Once completed it became apparent that the building could not withstand multiple bomb blast scenarios, and as such retrospective measures had to be implemented. This included adding Ground Floor Glazing Reinforcement and catch wires to the ground floor windows. This was costly, time consuming and impacted the look and feel of the public facilities and reception area. On occasion, we find a security measure has been identified and implemented, but no real thought has been given to how this will work from an operational perspective. A recent hotel project in the MENA region had included the provision of a K9 division for searching people and vehicles arriving at the property. This is great in theory; however, no consideration had been given to covered space for the dogs or the guards to protect them from the elements, and there had been no space allocated to kennels to house the off-duty animals. A final example is that of mail and luggage screening. If the risk assessment dictates that it is necessary to implement search and screening for people and vehicles entering the property, surely it makes sense to also scan luggage, mail and packages arriving on site? If no process or technology is in place, this would be a simple way to bypass security systems and insert a potentially harmful substance or IED into the building. There are various reasons that lead to a security consultant being engaged at a late stage. There tends to be a perception that in many locations security “isn’t a big issue” and that the risk profile for an area is already understood so a Threat and Risk Assessment is an unnecessary cost. This is often coupled with the belief that security is not a complex programme; security design has been done before and can be replicated on the new project. However, security is not a one size fits all solution. Equally, threat profiles vary between countries and even within a country, and are always changing based on socio-political conditions around the globe. On these occasions, there is a tendency to focus on surveillance and access control only. Initial design emphasis typically focuses on the main design aspects of the building (architectural, structural and civil). Security is not considered as a standalone discipline, and usually becomes the responsibility of the MEP/ELV contractor. The problem here is that this team doesn’t consider the architectural, physical or operational security solutions that fall outside of the MEP remit. The contractual mechanism can also pose a challenge; who appoints the security consultant? In addition, the security scope is often omitted or insufficient when outlined in the tender document, and doesn’t appreciate the implications of security on early stage design I believe it is time to start heavily promoting early engagement of security consultants, and in general, understanding of the importance of a solid security strategy. Security is no longer a problem restricted to certain regions; crime prevention and counter terror measures are now required all over the globe, and protecting people and assets should be a priority. As such it is paramount that all security risks have been considered early in the design. Ultimately, this will save costs incurred from the need to implement retrospective security measures, ensure security design complements building aesthetics and guarantee design supports delivery of operational security. A move to early engagement would help to improve the overall safety and security of the built environment.

This year marks the 10th year of SuperHomes, the innovative and multi-award-winning national network of over 200 homes that have all reduced their carbon footprint by a minimum of 60%. To celebrate turning 10, SuperHomes is revitalising grassroots renovation with a record number of 100 FREE Open House events next month across all parts of UK. Visit the SuperHomes website to find out more.   Since 2007, SuperHomes has been at the forefront of domestic eco-retrofit and the network continues to lead the way in carbon-conscious renovation. So far, 222 homeowners have all transformed their properties through environmentally-minded renovation, resulting in lower energy bills, smaller carbon footprints and a huge increase in comfort levels. SuperHomes include all types of houses, ranging from Grade II-listed 16th Century ironstone properties to ex-council houses built in the 1990s; from six-bedroom Victorian mansions to 1940 terraces; from idyllic ecolodge retreats in rural Snowdonia to single-storey flats in the heart of London. The technology used within and around SuperHomes is innovative and market-leading, and they offer exceptional, and often unique, examples of green technologies in the UK. In addition to the more mature aspects of green renovation, such as external wall insulation, solar PV panels and heat pumps, SuperHomes boast a variety of cutting-edge technologies such as Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems, green roofs, biomass boilers, and even whole-house airtight membranes. SuperHomes are pioneers in renewable technology and energy efficiency. Our most recent addition (SuperHome #222) is carbon neutral! The FREE Open House events occur every September to inspire visitors to make their homes greener and more sustainable. The SuperHome owners provide honest and detailed accounts of their renovation stories, and offer invaluable advice and guidance for anyone wanting to follow in their footsteps. The current, post-Green Deal climate, with lowered green incentives and a distinct lack of interest from subsequent governments, has seen the focus on eco-retrofit waver. Yet the refurbishment of our homes and buildings is one of the greatest challenges we face to reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change. SuperHomes harnesses the enthusiasm of our energy-saving pioneers to stimulate community-led renovation. Founder of the project (and owner of SuperHome #42), John Doggart, said: “Thousands of people attend our SuperHomes each year and visitors typically go on to invest over £4,000 on energy improvements. This is a fantastic way of helping people to improve their comfort and fuel bills whilst making a vital impact on reducing climate change. Go visit one of the properties and see for yourself.” To help SuperHomes celebrate this astounding anniversary we’ve partnered with the Ecology Building Society who are supporting this year’s September openings. Ecology, a pioneering financial mutual, is dedicated to improving the environment by supporting and promoting ecological building practices and sustainable communities. It achieves this by providing mortgages for environmental improvements, energy-efficient renovations and self-builds for individuals, charities and sustainable businesses, as well as supporting affordable and community-led housing. SuperHomes and Ecology have overlapping visions. We are both appalled by how much energy is wasted by houses across the UK; we both know that properties can be converted and renovated with respect for the environment, and with comfort and affordability in mind; and, most importantly, we both want to spread the message of eco-retrofit and inspire others to reduce their carbon footprint. Paul Ellis, Chief Executive of Ecology Building Society, explained why they are supporting SuperHomes this year: “We’re really delighted to partner with SuperHomes in its anniversary year, by supporting the programme of September openings. Improving the energy efficiency of our homes and buildings is key to reducing our carbon emissions and tackling climate change, and we believe that the SuperHomes network has an important role in showing what can be achieved. “We are especially proud that some of the eco-renovation project, which our lending has helped to fund, are now SuperHomes themselves. We hope that Ecology’s support for the September openings will enable SuperHomes to reach even more people, inspiring them to renovate and retrofit their own homes while reducing their carbon footprint.” Both SuperHomes and Ecology Building Society hope that this is the beginning of a longstanding collaboration. As the bulk of political attention is likely to focus on Brexit for the foreseeable future, we believe that building strong partnerships with like-minded organisations is crucial to influencing policy and shaping the future of environmental renovation. SuperHome Open Days occur throughout the year with a co-ordinated national event throughout September. Most of our openings coincide with Heritage Open Days (7-10th September) and London Open House (16-17th September). Visit our website to find out more. For further information, please contact: Richard Vale       SuperHomes Project Manager   richard.vale@nef.org.uk               01908 256914