Building Weekly Digest - 12 January 2024

The Building team is back for 2024 - in what promises to be an action-packed year. With the return to work in full swing for construction there is plenty to catch up on. Take a look at the biggest stories of the week and get a sneak peek of our very busy 2024 events calendar.

Tributes to Sir Martin Laing

This obituary by David Rogers takes a look back at the life of the late Sir Martin Laing. The passing of Sir Martin Laing a couple of days after Christmas marks the end of an era, and in this article we talk to many people who worked at the company Laing under his leadership and who remember him as part of a bygone age in contracting.

Will the government’s biodiversity plans prove a net gain for the housebuilding sector?

The very recent news that biodiversity net gain rules have been delayed yet again creates uncertainty for developers, who had expected that from this month they would be required to show how schemes will increase biodiversity by 10%. It appears the delay is due to legislative hold-ups in parliament rather than a political u-turn and so the requirements will eventually come into effect. Joey Gardiner has taken an in-depth look at the impact of the new rules and how housebuilders are preparing. The piece features thoughts from Louise Clarke of Berkeley Group, Home Builders Federation's Chris Carr, Adas Rico Wojtulewicz-Richmond from the National Federation of Builders (NFB), Neil Beamsley of Bellway Homes and Nuala Wheatley from Lichfields UK.

World Architecture 100 Live returns in 2024

Now in its third year World Architecture 100 Live is back in the the first week of February. This iteration will focus on discussing issues at the heart of the global architecture community. As part of our sister title Building Design. ’s WA100 2024, we will be running a full-day international event talking to some of the biggest global architects about the reality of working in the global arena – including the state of the global market, latest technological influences and the international client drivers.?

Join us from 9.30am GMT on 6 February for live panel sessions and exclusive content that will provide insight, advice and analysis for practices looking to expand and improve their global footprint. You can view the agenda and register here, as well as pre-ordering your copy of the WA100 2024 here.

Green solutions: Civic Engineers’ Stephen O’Malley and Michelle McDowell talk sustainable growth

Daniel Gayne last month spoke to Stephen O'Malley and Michelle McDowell MBE about their plans for Civic Engineers . They are certainly ambitious, both in the growth they are targetting and in their desire to maintain the community and climate-focused reputation that the engineering consultant has built for itself. Find out all about their bold plans in this must-read piece.

From the archives: How buildings were affected by the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, 1946

The United States’ decision to drop two nuclear bombs on Japan in August 1945 was not initially reported in The Builder. Maybe that was because it was not immediately clear what the implications of the attacks would be on the world, or specifically on the construction industry.

In this instalment of our From the Archives series you can take a look at excerpts from the original article describing the bomb’s affects on housing, air raid shelters and its implications for construction.

Thanks for reading and have a great week