Building Weekly Digest: 10 March 2023

The latest succession plan at Laing O'Rourke and the future of HS2 were two of the big stories we tackled this week. There was also more from the Building the Future Commission and the From the Archives series, including LinkedIn articles from two of the team here at Building. Explore it all below.

Building the Future Commission: March progress report

Editorial director Chloe McCulloch took the time to reflect on the work of the Building the Future Commission over the last month this week. Her LinkedIn article shares the highlights of Building Magazine's latest coverage for the commission and links through for further reading. One highlight was new Ideas Hub with information on how to take part. We’ve had a lot of emails to the commission, which has prompted us to set up a more structured way to submit your ideas to us. It’s simple really: we have an online form that asks for some basic details about you and for a maximum of 500 words to explain your big idea. Read more in Chloe's LinkedIn summary to find out what else the commission has coming up.

Has Ray O’Rourke’s successor been under his nose all along?

The big news out of Laing O'Rourke this week was the return of Ray O'Rourke's son Cathal O'Rourke as chief operating officer. This piece from David Rogers delves into the latest goings on at  Laing O'Rourke, and what Cathal's return to the business signals about its future.

How do we ensure building safety compliance while still delivering the homes we need?

Our head of content Carl Brown shared an insight into what he has discovered in his discussions for the #BuildingtheFuture commission's #BuildingSafety stream. In this LinkedIn update Carl talks about how many professionals are grappling with new building safety rules and how an increasingly complex regulatory landscape is causing confusion in some quarters. He includes views from Rebecca Rees, partner at Trowers & Hamlins and Andrew Mellor, partner at PRP, plus plenty more. It's definitely worth a read.

Sir John Armitt on HS2 and the infrastructure sector in the UK

Having decided to build it, we should get on and build it.” National Infrastructure Commission chairman Sir John Armitt is talking about the HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd railway. A natural diplomat, the angst the government has got itself into over the #HS2 project, the latter stages of which are now facing a two-year delay, is testing even his patience. In this #BuildingtheFuture analysis piece David Rogers speaks to Armitt about the future of infrastructure in the UK.

From the Archives: Dodging falling bricks at the Natural History Museum construction site, 1876

Site safety is one aspect of construction the Victorians did not excel at, often putting builders' lives at risk. On a visit to the site of the Natural History Museum in 1876, it was members of the Architectural Association who found themselves narrowly avoiding a fatal accident. Workers on the scaffold above accidentally dropped two or three bricks, which landed within 2ft of the tour group and smashed one of the half-completed building’s terracotta tiles. That's what this week's instalment in the series from Tom Lowe covers.

Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend