img(height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=2939831959404383&ev=PageView&noscript=1")

Water, water everywhere…

They say you should never meet your heroes – a thought at the back of my mind at Alumasc’s recent water debate, held while chugging up the Thames towards the Thames Barrier – which represents for me the best of British engineering, joined-up thinking by the London boroughs and good old Dunkirk spirit in the face of disaster. There was plenty of liquid onboard as Alumasc Water Management Solutions MD Steve Durdant-Hollamby told the audience the barrier was completed in 1982 to deal with five-times a year predicted surges. Last year, he informed us, it was raised 50 times. Future-proof? Maybe not – but what a magnificently flawed beast it is close up!


 

Latest

In an Olympic year and with a Commonwealth Games due to be staged in two years’ time, impress us with a bold, temporary sporting arena in Edinburgh or London for a chance to win a £2500 prize

Win up to £2500 in our design ideas competition

Guidance from Purcell stresses the need to use heritage-trained architects, spend time and effort on detailed design, and collaborate with council conservation officers

Purcell guidance advocates heritage-trained architects and collaboration with LPA conservation officers

Our role as architects encompasses much more than design alone, says Muyiwa Oki. Reassuring our clients is an essential part of the service

Reassuring our clients is an essential part of the service

Amin Taha’s Groupwork has thrown a light, nostalgic cloak over a central London office block in a playful upgrade and extension

Amin Taha’s playful upgrade and extension of a city block

Light industrial unit design in Sevenoaks, a daylighting contest for architecture students and a new home counties planning/design framework: these are some of the latest architecture contracts and competitions from across the industry

Latest: £2.6m commercial development, Kent