Pete Baxter of Autodesk has contributed a great article to this week’s Buildingtalk, explaining why he believes sustainability will be the key dynamic in architecture over the next decade. He identifies changes in legislation as just one factor. For example, the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is having a major impact right across the construction industry throughout Europe.

Many companies, large and small, are taking a careful look at their building spend to ensure it contributes to their sustainability strategy. Marks and Spencer has mandated that it will be carbon neutral by 2012 and other retailers like Sainsbury’s and Asda are in similar positions. Some reports suggest that 90 per cent of projects are expected to incorporate sustainable design by 2012. Obviously good news for companies like Autodesk, who have invested heavily to create building information modelling (BIM) technology and other products that help change the way projects are designed, enabling architects to deliver the sustainability gains that clients are demanding. Follow the link in the summary below to find out more.

Other industry news last week included an announcement from the UK Housing Minister, John Healey, who has given the green light to the biggest programme to build new council homes for two decades. The government is spending an additional GBP250m to build 3,400 homes and create around 5,000 jobs. This is on top of GBP600m released earlier this year to provide 18,000 new homes through the National Affordable Housing Programme. Though a proposed housing bill in Scotland would end the right-to-buy for all new-supply social housing.

Finally, in the 800th anniversary year of the completion of the medieval London Bridge, plans have been discussed for a new ‘inhabited’ bridge, between Waterloo and Blackfriars, with luxury flats, shops and restaurants. This is the big project backed by London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has revived plans for the ?80m scheme.

For those who remember the old nursery rhyme ‘London Bridge is falling down’, Mark Latham, from the University of Leicester’s Centre for Urban History, will be revealing just why the last inhabited bridge really did fall down - something to do with a previous credit crunch I believe. If you are curious, there is a lecture to the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects, as part of the ‘Designs for an inhabited London Bridge’ event taking place at St Mary-at-Hill Church in London on Wednesday 16 September. I can’t make it but would be interested to hear any feedback.
This comment was originally published in the Buildingtalk Newsletter