RIBA Sustainability Hub

The RIBA has created this Hub to to provide a free, central internet resource on all aspects of sustainable design in architecture. It includes Design Strategy pages which offer an introduction to techniques, materials and practices; Case Study pages which explain how these strategies were incorporated; and Sustainability Hub Shorts: short films designed to connect theory into practice.

JCT student essay competition

The Joint Contracts Tribunal's (JCT) Education and Training Initiative was launched last year to provide the construction sector with a complete education and training package, including groups to support both students and education providers. As part of the Initiative, JCT has launched a student essay competition on one of two topics: “A Vision for the Future of Construction” or “The Future of Construction Contract Management in the Digital Age”. Generous prize monies are on offer, and students can enter as individuals or as a team of up to three. 

The growth and decline of Glasgow's railways

Architect Fiona Sinclair is presenting an illustrated talk on Glasgow's lost railway heritage and the architecture associated with the growth of railways along the coast on Thursday 26 January at 7.30pm in Adelaide's, at the corner of Bath and Pitt Streets in Glasgow. The event is part of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland's winter lecture series, all of which are free to students. 

Scottish Post Office directories

The National Library of Scotland has recently digitised and made freely available online 694 Post Office directories for the period 1773 to 1911, covering 28 of Scotland's towns and counties, including Glasgow and its suburbs. These annual directories incorporate an alphabetical list of a town's or county's inhabitants, and represent another piece in the jigsaw when researching the history of a building or place.

New South Glasgow Hospital campus

One of the largest hospital campuses in Europe is beginning to take shape in the Govan area of Glasgow, a massive project that has so far received little coverage in the architectural press. Architects Nightingale Associates and contractors Brookfield are behind the massive £842 million scheme for the 'super hospital'. The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is a good source for further information, and includes concept and construction images, together with a virtual video fly-through.

Mackintosh Italian sketchbook website

The website which showcases the contents of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's wonderful 1891 Northern Italian sketchbook, held by Glasgow School of Art's Archives and collections, has received a makeover. It now incorporates 'turn the pages' technology to provide a more enjoyable browsing experience. The sketchbook's contents remain fully searchable, and the website retains the popular interactive Baedeker maps.

Report from Mary, Queen of Shops

Retail expert Mary Portas has just published her review of the future of Britain's ailing high streets, which was prompted by concerns about a doubling of town centre vacancy rates in just two years. Her review makes a number of recommendations which, if implemented, would have an impact on the built environment and public space in town centres.

New design in historic settings

A new joint publication from Historic Scotland, Architecture and Place, and Architecture and Design Scotland explores how the standard of new design in historic settings can be raised. The guidance sets out some broad principles and illustrates them with reference to examples of good practice from around Scotland. These include St Aloysius Junior School, Glasgow; the Scottish Poetry Library, Edinburgh; the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness; the Lotte Glob house, Sutherland; the Culloden Visitor Centre; and Glasgow's Cathedral Precinct.

Architectural procurement in Scotland

The RIAS (Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland) has just published its long-awaited report on architectural procurement, which is freely available online. The report suggests that the process in Scotland is costly, inefficient, and damaging to both the economy and construction employment, and makes recommendations to improve the situation.

Scottish six-inch maps online

The National Library of Scotland has recently added 7486(!) map sheets to its already vast online collection. The maps are the six-inch to the mile and later edition maps of Scotland and cover the period 1892-1960. At this scale, they illustrate a very wide range of natural and man-made features and are excellent for local history. It is possible to zoom into the detail of the maps using an interactive index map, and to search by county, parish and a gazetteer of place names.

Living (e)Books

A series of 21 'Living Books about Life' has been launched online as part of a pioneering initiative to provide a bridge between the humanities and the sciences. The books are written and produced by humanities scholars from universities worldwide, and re-package scientific research to make it more accessible, and freely available, to a non-scientific audience. Several of the titles are likely to be of interest to architects, and feature topics such as surveillance, energy, and the man-machine interface. 

Bertrand Goldberg and Marina City

We've just added a new book, 'Bertrand Goldberg, architecture of invention' to library stock. It's the catalogue of the exhibition currently at the Art Institute of Chicago, which itself is accompanied by a website showcasing some little-known material. Anyone wanting to find out more about Goldberg's Marina City development might also be interested in a 'A city within a city'; an original brochure about the complex that we hold in our store.

The British Newspaper Archive

Today sees the launch of 4 million pages of newspapers from the 18th and 19th centuries, which have been made available online by the British Library. The archive is free to search, but there is a charge to access the actual newspaper pages themselves. Nevertheless, the database would be a useful tool for contextual research into the history of the built environment, and could be used in conjunction with the historic newspaper holdings of libraries such as Glasgow's Mitchell Library.

Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield

The Concrete Centre has a short webcast which features David Chipperfield discussing the ideas behind his riverside Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield, which uses concrete cast on-site.

St Peter's Seminary, Cardross

GSA's School of Fine Art have organised a lecture at the Glasgow Film Theatre at 11am on Friday 25 November which will be given by Angus Farquhar of public art charity NVA. NVA are currently working on a radical plan for the derelict seminary complex at Cardross, near Glasgow, designed by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia. The lecture is an opportunity to learn more about these plans, and the wider context of the survival and reuse of modernist architecture. 

Nanontechnology in construction

NBS (the National Building Specification) regularly produce web-based articles on various aspects of building technology, and these can provide a useful point of entry into topics of current interest. A good example from this series is 'nanotechnology in construction' which offers a good overview of the subject together with links to further sources of information. 

Passivhaus primers

The BRE (Building Research Establishment) has published online a series of documents which set out the key principles of the Passivhaus low energy construction standard, and explain the process and application of Passivhaus design.

New architectural acronym

As a fan of acronyms, I was delighted by a new book which has just arrived in the Library, entitled 'HOPSCA'. This is a new form of mixed-use development which has originated in China, comprising a complex of Hotels, Offices, Parks, Shopping malls, Clubs and Apartments. The term appears to be read as "hao bu si ka" in Chinese. The book we have purchased seems to be the only one on the subject so far.

Architecture Subject Guide reminder

This is probably a good point in the academic term to remind students about the Library's subject guide to architecture. The guide highlights the location of key architecture-related subject areas throughout the Library by their classification number, and lists our architectural magazine and journal holdings, including e-journals. It also provides information on the core electronic databases students should consider using when searching for journal articles, maps and images, and mentions other resources such as dissertations, DVDs, and Special Collections material. The guide is in pdf form and can be downloaded using the link above. 

Imagination Playground

New York architect David Rockwell has designed Imagination Playground, a portable polyethylene foam children's playground in kit form, which gives children themselves the freedom to choose how they play and what they play with, and teaches them basic design and construction concepts.

The benefits of good street design

The CIVITAS think-tank has issued an online report which attempts to quantify the social and emotional benefits of well-designed streets. It draws on evidence from from Brighton's experience with the redesign of the aptly-named New Road to create a shared public realm between vehicles and pedestrians in the heart of the city.

Quality in town and country

The Urban Design Group has made available a scanned and digitised version of the discussion document 'Quality and Town and Country', published by in 1994 by the Government under John Gummer, Secretary of State, Department of the Environment. The initiative was a catalyst for the re-establishment of the importance of design quality in the planning system. The document can be freely downloaded in full from the Urban Design Group's website.

The shareable future of cities

Alex Steffen, a leading voice on sustainability and social innovation, talks on TED about the challenge of meeting the energy needs of a rapidly-urbanising planet, and discusses a selection of neighbourhood-based green projects that expand our access to things we want and need, while reducing the time we spend in cars.

Designing for independence and dignity

The RIBA and BRE have recently issued 'A guide for assisted living', which details key design requirements for the adaptation of residences to meet the needs of the elderly and chronically ill to enable them to live active, independent and dignified lives. The guide is freely available online in pdf format from the RIBA website.

UK life expectancy animated map

The UK's Office for National Statistics has been creating interactive content to bring its data to life, making it more meaningful and memorable. A good example which should give architects pause for thought is an animated map which illustrates changing life expectancy across the UK for males and females. Interacting with the map allows you to see how a particular geographical area compares with the UK as a whole, which in the case of Glasgow makes for alarming viewing.