Team UK – 37 of the brightest and best young apprentices (and former apprentices) – is in a Russian rush to get started at the ‘Skills Olympics’ in Kazan, which opens in front of 54,000 spectators tomorrow (Thursday August 22nd).

The World Cup (cricket or football), the Olympic Games or any other sporting occasion just pale into insignificance in terms of their real importance to the future of our nation.

These young stars have already spent up to four years competing and training in order to reach the elite level they are at which enables them to compete against the best on the world stage.

We all know we need to get out more. How else will we meet new people, learn new things, find new ideas and discover new products? Yet the pressure on our time is unrelenting. It can be difficult to justify time out of the office with all those deadlines looming and emails piling up.

The internet provides part of the answer, of course. But the smartest solution for busy architects is also about choosing days out that can be crammed with as much value as possible. By taking advantage of UK Construction Week (UKCW) you can tick off all the above at one event.

Leading British designer and manufacturer of quality fitted furniture, Daval, explain that whatever the temperature outside, your style will be white hot with its Henley Furniture Collection: a Shaker-style kitchen range that exudes warmth and sophistication.

Inspired by Shaker style design that embodies sleek modern styling with classic charm, Henley presents a one-piece door with smooth painted finish: pairing effortlessly with the cool white worktops. The design team at Daval have created some exquisite new accessories for Henley, starting with a new top box unit, which creates a flexible option that can be used over a sink, or in a row of tall units for maximum impact.

The prestigious SBID International Design Awards have been accredited to GOLD standard by The Independent Awards Standards Council. SBID are the first interior design award scheme to be
accredited to this standard. The Awards Trust Mark Scheme was established with the aim of encouraging more award programmes to focus on their own ethics and transparency.

Discover this emerging talent and explore the unique world of this contemporary Artist

Introducing a new concept of Radiator Art, which we have named RADIART. English by birth and Italian by heart, this young, contemporary Artist has a worldwide audience with his audacious and unique style. He is now designing bespoke ‘RADIART’ for Creative Radiators, with exclusive artworks painted in oils directly onto your radiator.

Creative Radiators promotes the understanding, knowledge and appreciation if this emerging Artist with a collection of bespoke radiator sculptures and images that are available throughout Europe. Incredible 3D surface designs and unique paintings will inject your interior designs with Art that is vibrant, rare and very exclusive.

IT’S no secret that the UK is suffering from a housing crisis. Modular homes are seen as the answer. Modular homes are designed to be incredibly energy efficient – some costing just £1 per day to run – and efficient to manufacture – with some developments boasting a one-week onsite build time. What’s not to get excited about? 

But it’s not just architects and contractors who are having all the fun in developing this new approach to housing. Engineers are also challenging the norm when it comes to creating eco-friendly and efficient-to-erect homes.

“Compared to the design of standard residential homes, modular homes are a completely different product and require a wholly new approach,” said Wayne Oakes, director at civil and structural engineering practice, Dice.

Ambitious North East housebuilder Homes by Carlton is trialling an innovative modular house type that could have a major impact on the new homes market and the environment.

The County Durham-based property developer is currently building two of the new designs on its latest new homes site at Cathedral Gates, a mix of 14 three and four-bed detached and semi-detached homes at Chilton, eight miles from Durham City.

These new-style designs – called CoreHaus – will significantly reduce construction times, build costs and have less impact on the environment than more traditional homes. They offer the flexible combination of being part modular, with a standard, engineered core, that can then be configured to different sizes.

• 65% of young people associate apprenticeships with ‘earning money while studying and not incurring student debt’
• 17-year-old Bailey Holland-Knightly tells her story of excelling as a Redrow apprentice after a lack of sound careers advice at school
• New cohort of apprentices set to embark on training in areas such as bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing and electricals

As young people across the UK await their A-Level results on Thursday and find out whether they have done enough to secure a place at university, Redrow is preparing to welcome its latest intake of more than 80 trade apprentices. The new cohort means that 15% of the leading housebuilder’s workforce will be enrolled on a structured training programme such as an apprenticeship or graduate scheme. By September this year there will be almost 300 people in apprenticeship roles across the company in trade, administration, technical and commercial roles.

With the NHBC reporting the highest number of new home registrations since 2007*, it’s good to see brick manufacturers continuing to increase production numbers, ensuring the supply of British-manufactured bricks keeps pace with demand.

Brick production figures have been consistently rising over recent years and this month’s figures, showing a modest but positive 2.2% rise for the first six months of 2019, demonstrate the result of ongoing investment in the sector.

Bovis Homes, the FTSE 250 listed housebuilder, has announced plans to build a new £195m development of 725 homes in Twigworth, Gloucester.

The development will include 471 private units ranging from two to four-bedroom houses from the company’s new Phoenix range. In addition, 254 units will be provided as affordable housing,
including one and two-bed apartments and two to four-bed homes. Within the location, Bovis Homes will also build a number of facilities to support the local community. As part of its section 106 financial contributions of £7.62m, it will provide nursery, primary and secondary education as well as on and off-site sports and leisure facilities. It will also make highway improvements including

AWARD-WINNING construction firm Stepnell has delivered two £9 million ‘new generation’ luxury care homes in Bedfordshire.

The complete construction partner partnered with care home developer Frontier and care home provider Baycroft, to create the ultra-modern developments, which both feature 75 bedrooms, with en-suite bathrooms and stylish communal spaces for dining, socialising and relaxing.

Each state-of-the-art home also boasts its own cinema room, gym, café, hair and beauty salon as well as high-quality guest accommodation and a children’s play area for visitors.

IT’S no secret that the UK is suffering from a housing crisis. Modular homes are seen as the answer. Modular homes are designed to be incredibly energy efficient – some costing just £1 per day to run – and efficient to manufacture – with some developments boasting a one-week onsite build time. What’s not to get excited about? 

 But it’s not just architects and contractors who are having all the fun in developing this new approach to housing. Engineers are also challenging the norm when it comes to creating eco-friendly and efficient-to-erect homes.

“Compared to the design of standard residential homes, modular homes are a completely different product and require a wholly new approach,” said Wayne Oakes, director at civil and structural engineering practice, Dice.

Yes, controversial sports personalities do make for the best listening. Strong opinions, a good voice, you just have to give in, download and listen.

Putting people on the spot, asking thought provoking questions, and questioning some players worth? And managers’ ability to manage, gets people riled up … but hooked. This is why Stan Collymore’s podcast “The Last Word” has been voted as The Number 1 podcast in the UK … across the board! Beating some tough competition out there, it flew to top of the charts and we know why. He knows his stuff!

A South London-based design and build company has been announced as the winner of Best Bespoke Luxury Design/Build Company at this year’s BUILD Architecture Awards

This is the second year in a row that boutique firm, Create Bespoke, has scooped the prestigious award and comes following a custom refurbishment in Herne Hill, London, which involved converting two flats into a stunning four-storey home.

Andy Young, Founder at Create Bespoke, commented on the win: “We are delighted to have been awarded this award for the second year running. We believe that our solid reputation for quality, care and consideration in everything we do, combined with impeccable customer service and an exceptional standard of finish are the main keys to our success and are helping to establish Create Bespoke as one of London’s leading design and build specialists.