The RIBA Future Trends Workload Index increased significantly in November, rising to +27 (up from +18 in October); this suggests that confidence levels within the profession have stabilised towards the end of the year. All nations and regions in the UK returned positive balance figures. Large practices (51+ staff) remain
6 August 2016 – by Samantha McClary Plans to colonise space have been around for decades. Back in 1975, the conclusion of a NASA-sponsored study said: “The people of Earth have both the knowledge and the resources to colonise space.” That was NASA, not some loon in a tin-foil hat.
Six contractors have been appointed to a £35m civil engineering framework for Scottish Canals. Works involved are expected to include bridges, culverts, retaining walls, reservoirs, towpaths, buildings, embankments, and cuttings. The selected contractors are: John Graham Construction Land Engineering Mackenzie Construction Covanburn Contracts Douglas Kynoch Drainage Contractor Morgan Sindall. As
©Bloomberg One of the flagship schemes for keeping Britain’s lights on this winter has been cancelled at the last moment due to a lack of demand, illustrating the difficulties policymakers are having in balancing the UK’s electricity supplies. National Grid had promised to pay organisations that were willing to turn
The RIBA Future Trends Workload Index increased significantly in November, rising to +27 (up from +18 in October); this suggests that confidence levels within the profession have stabilised towards the end of the year. All nations and regions in the UK returned positive balance figures. Large practices (51+ staff) remain the most positive about future prospects (balance figure +100), compared with medium-sized (11–50 staff, balance figure +32) and small practices (1–10 staff, balance figure +24). By far the most robust of the sector forecasts throughout 2015, the private housing sector forecast was unchanged in November (+25). The public sector and community sector workload forecasts were also unchanged (balance figures –3 and +3 respectively); the commercial sector workload forecast increased to +14 in November (from +7 in October). The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index also recovered lost ground, rising to +14 in November (up from +9 in October). Only 2% of practices expect to have fewer staff at the end of the next quarter. Large practices continue to be more confident about increasing staff numbers (balance figure of +50) compared with either small (+10) or medium-sized practices (+33). RIBA Executive Director Members Adrian Dobson said: “Commentary from our participating practices is generally upbeat as we look ahead to 2016. We have seen further evidence of increases in fee levels, as well as confirmation that practices are finding it is taking more time to recruit new staff with appropriate skills while the employment market continues to improve. A few practices sound a note of caution that increases in construction tender prices are leading some clients to question the viability of projects moving into the construction phase.” ENDS Notes to editors: 1. For further press information contact Callum Reilly in the RIBA press office: callum.reilly@riba.org 020 7307 3757 2. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) champions better buildings, communities and the environment through architecture and our members. Architecture.com Follow @RIBA on Twitter for regular updates www.twitter.com/RIBA 3. Completed by a mix of small, medium and large firms based on a geographically representative sample, the RIBA Future Trends Survey was launched in January 2009 to monitor business and employment trends affecting the architects’ profession. 4. The Future Trends Survey is carried out by the RIBA in partnership with the Fees Bureau. Results of the survey, including a full graphical analysis, are published each month at: http://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Professionalsupport/FutureTrendsSurvey.aspx 5. To participate in the RIBA Future Trends Survey, please contact the RIBA Practice Department on 020 7307 3749 or email practice@riba.org. The survey takes approximately five minutes to complete each month, and all returns are independently processed in strict confidence 6. The definition for the workload balance figure is the difference between those expecting more work and those expecting less. A negative figure means more respondents expect less work than those expecting more work. This figure is used to represent the RIBA Future Trends Workload Index, which for November 2015 was +27 7. The definition for the staffing balance figure is the difference between those expecting to employ more permanent staff in the next three months and those expecting to employ fewer. A negative figure means more respondents expect to employ fewer permanent staff. This figure is used to represent the RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index, which for November 2015 was +14 Posted on Monday 21st December 2015 Source link
6 August 2016 – by Samantha McClary Plans to colonise space have been around for decades. Back in 1975, the conclusion of a NASA-sponsored study said: “The people of Earth have both the knowledge and the resources to colonise space.” That was NASA, not some loon in a tin-foil hat. Last year, in his address to Congress, US president Barack Obama said: “I want Americans to push out into the solar system, not just to visit, but to stay.” Richard Branson is pumping millions of pounds into Virgin Galactic as he aims to bring space travel to the man on the street – if the man on the street has a spare $250,000 (£189,000), of course. Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla, has been wanting to establish a colony on Mars since he founded SpaceX 14 years ago. By 2018, he expects to be sending unmanned flights to Mars every two years, with the aim of landing the first human on the Red Planet, which incidentally is a mere 140m miles away, in 2025. Is space colonisation the science fantasy of the rich and entrepreneurial, or is it something that the forward-thinking developer needs to start considering? Space settlement can sound barmy, but so did air travel at one time. Some 150-odd years ago, no one had flown in a plane, and today 500m people a year take to the skies, with some flights costing little more than a round at the pub on a Saturday night. In 2008, Premier Inn owner Whitbread bought a 43,000 sq ft site on the moon from Dennis Hope of Moon Estates. Hope took claim of the moon after interpreting the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits national sovereignty of celestial bodies but not private appropriation, as an enabler for him to do so. Whitbread paid just £24 for an option on the site (area E5 on Quadrant Foxtrot, for those who want to get their telescopes out), but would have to stump up a further £1m for the land, should it ever develop the hotel. All the content from this weekís magazine, including this article, is available in the new app. At the time, Premier Inn managing director Patrick Dempsey said: “Given the pace of exploration and transportation possibilities beyond Earth’s atmosphere, we feel that it is now more feasible than ever to expect travel to the moon to become a common experience within the next 20-30 years.” The current Premier Inn team is less aware of the moon expansion plans, but Dempsey still has a good 22 years to prove his investment. And it is not like hotels on the moon have not already been designed. In 2011, architectural practice Morrow + Lorraine participated in a competition set up as part of RIBA’s Guerrilla Tactics conference to design a space hotel for Virgin Galactic. Its design, which used the moon’s craters for foundations and attempted to design out all the life-inhibiting factors of moon tourism, such as cosmic and solar radiation, won. And while Morrow + Lorraine has not yet been instructed on the project, Virgin Galactic, after a fatal failure in 2014, is still pushing ahead with its plans to make space travel available for all. “Outer space is the province of all humanity and we think it is about time that all of humanity has a chance to explore it,” says Virgin Galactic chief executive George Whitesides. Building The tools to build in space are already being developed too. In 2013, architect Foster + Partners teamed up with the European Space Agency to investigate methods for building lunar homes and came up with a robot-operated 3D printer that could construct homes able to withstand the extreme conditions on the moon – temperatures range from -180°C to 130°C – out of lunar soil. Japanese contractor Kajima is working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to develop machinery able to build on the moon and Mars, and believes it will be ready by 2030 for the moon and by 2040 for Mars. And earlier this year, researchers at Northwestern University in the US found a way to construct bricks out of sulphur, a widely available product on Mars. Sulphur, the researchers found, could take the place of water to bind concrete together. The only problem is that sulphur is not very resistant to high temperatures, meaning if your Martian home/office/shop catches fire, it will melt. But theoretically, NASA (or Musk or Branson or insert developer of your choice here) could send an advance team of robots to Mars to 3D print structures of locally sourced sulphur concrete so that when the humans arrive, they can install an airtight membrane inside and voila, a home/office/shop on Mars. Survival Sounds simple doesn’t it? But if scientists have been banging on about space development since space travel began in the 1950s, and about how the survival of mankind is dependent on pushing beyond the borders of Earth, why haven’t we at least gone back to the moon since 1972? Rachel Armstrong, professor of experimental architecture at Newcastle University, TED fellow, and founder of Black Sky Thinking, says the issue is about the “liveability of living beyond Earth’s environment”. She cites the Biosphere 2 experiment of the 1990s as an example. The 3.14-acre closed-system in the Arizona desert struggled to survive for much more than 18 months. And that was on Earth. If we cannot seal off an environment on a planet we know well and make it sustainable, what chance do we have off Earth? “We have equated ecology to cybernetics,” says Armstrong. “We have never been able to rear a great white shark in captivity. Why? It has something to do with the space [it inhabits naturally] and the quality of that space that cannot be contained.” For Armstrong, there are a lot of questions still to be addressed before
Six contractors have been appointed to a £35m civil engineering framework for Scottish Canals. Works involved are expected to include bridges, culverts, retaining walls, reservoirs, towpaths, buildings, embankments, and cuttings. The selected contractors are: John Graham Construction Land Engineering Mackenzie Construction Covanburn Contracts Douglas Kynoch Drainage Contractor Morgan Sindall. As well as the waterways themselves, Scottish Canals care for 251 bridges, 212 buildings, 256 locks, The Falkirk Wheel and 19 water supply reservoirs in locations across Scotland. In a separate move, Scottish Canals’ own in-house dredging team has invested £250,000 in new machinery to help carry out a dredging and weed cutting along its waterways. Bringing the work in-house is expected save around £50,000 per year on contractor costs. The investment follows the completion of a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) between Scottish Canals and the University of Strathclyde to generate additional income from finding innovative new uses for the waste materials generated by dredging which included turning it into building materials or feedstock for producing bio gas. This article was published on 7 Apr 2016 (last updated on 7 Apr 2016). Source link
©Bloomberg One of the flagship schemes for keeping Britain’s lights on this winter has been cancelled at the last moment due to a lack of demand, illustrating the difficulties policymakers are having in balancing the UK’s electricity supplies. National Grid had promised to pay organisations that were willing to turn off or turn down equipment this winter if there was a spike in demand or a drop in supply. The scheme proved vital last year when several power plants unexpectedly shut down — heavy electricity users such as businesses, hospitals and factories took 40MW of demand off the system in response. More On this topic IN UK Business & Economy But this year National Grid has cancelled the scheme, known as the “demand-side balancing reserve”, after too few users said they were willing to put themselves on standby. The move could cost the grid millions of pounds, which it expected to receive from the energy regulator to implement the policy. The grid’s decision, which was announced in a letter to the few organisations who did apply, shows how difficult the company is finding it to keep supply and demand balanced with large old power stations rapidly reaching the end of their lives. National Grid has said it expects the margin between supply and demand at peak hours during this winter to be the lowest ever. The letter said: “Despite National Grid amending the DSBR service via a consultation in September 2015 to encourage participation over the peak, it is clear this has not been successful. “Following tender close on 9th June and subsequent validation of data, it has been determined that minimal volume would be available across this period.” One reason for the move is that many organisations already avoid using power at peak times and so would find it hard to reduce their usage any further. But some critics say National Grid has not given enough incentive for users to sign up, while at the same time overpaying highly polluting coal-power stations to remain on the system as back-up. Last year, the company agreed to pay old coal-power stations to remain in reserve in case of another unexpected outage at a rate of up to £88,000 per MW of capacity. If they are called into action they are guaranteed to be paid up to £14,000 per MW-hour of use. Those costs will eventually be paid by electricity customers across the country, and compare with a wholesale price of about £40 per MW/h. Plant operators say they need the higher payments because they are so seldom called into action. One industry executive said: “They paid so much to the companies running coal-power stations that there is not enough available for those who are willing to reduce their demand. Not only is this bad for consumers, who will pay for all of this, but it is also bad for the environment.” Last week, Ofgem, the energy regulator, said it would pay the grid £4.5m to implement reserve schemes such as the DSBR — there is now a chance some of that money will be cancelled. Ofgem said: “We are consulting on this and will set out our final decision after the consultation closes in October.” National Grid said it remains committed to paying companies to reduce their demand, although through different mechanisms. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link
