As a major contributor to the Climate Emergency, the construction industry must change the way it operates and ultimately the types of buildings it delivers. According to the World Green Building Council, buildings account for 39% of the world’s total carbon footprint; 28% from the day-to-day running of buildings, their operational carbon. The other 11% is from the embodied carbon associated with the construction process, and the manufacture and transportation of materials. Improvements are clearly needed across the industry if we are to meet Net Zero targets.
Stimulus investment is a professional opportunity but also an opportunity to consider our civic responsibility in supporting shared and sustainable prosperity through infrastructure design and delivery. If public transport is essential infrastructure, in this moment of exacerbated inequity, can investment broaden to include affordable housing as essential infrastructure?
To say the effect of the pandemic on aviation has been significant is somewhat of an understatement. At the peak of the shutdown, global air traffic was down 94% against the same period in 2019 with about two thirds of the world’s commercial aircraft parked or in storage. The effect on London has been dramatic with Heathrow closing all its terminals apart from T2 and T5 and the airport’s controversial expansion plans now looking uncertain.
Founding Partner Rob Naybour shares our proposals for remapping HS2 in Manchester at Place North West’s Transport and Infrastructure panel on November 16. The proposals focus on the change from a terminus station to a through station aiming to incorporate Northern Powerhouse Rail.
It is increasingly important to update our current housing stock as it will account for 85% of that in 2050 according to the CIOB. The social rented sector should be a priority as 17% of English households live in affordable homes (CIB). Figures show that these people have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19 and other health issues due to poor ventilation, refuse strategies, damp and overcrowding.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront the isolation of rural communities from the country’s transport infrastructure.
With a growing elderly and vulnerable population, matched with splintering social structures, many find themselves lacking access to social and communal support. Meanwhile, rural bus services are increasingly underfunded and underused, constantly threatened with closure at great detriment to those who rely on them to support their daily lives.
Digital technology is rapidly changing the way that airports operate, streamlining efficiency and creating new possibilities for improving `end to end’ customer experience. By adopting a more human perspective, airports can spatially respond to the demands of the aging population, in particular passengers with dementia.
WW+P & engineering consultants Expedition have developed a proposal for a new and fully integrated high-speed station development at Manchester Piccadilly Station.
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