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All posts by Verri Berri

14
Dec 2020

Examining The Lifetime Skills Guarantee

Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently outlined his plans for a new ‘Lifetime Skills Guarantee’ in which tens of thousands of adults will be able to study on free courses, from next year. The media-grabbing figure was that the scheme is supported by a not-insignificant £95 million from the National Skills Fund (NSF). The programme is specifically aimed at those adults who don’t have any A-Levels (or equivalent qualifications). This isn’t the first vocation-geared direction taken by the Government in recent years, either, with the introduction of T-Levels showing that their intent lies just as much in preparing people for the […]

A person studying to represent the training offered by the new Lifetime Skills Guarantee.
7
Dec 2020

Building A Better Tomorrow: RIBA’s 2020 President’s Medal Winners Announced!

One of the most exciting dates in the architectural calendar is unquestionably the annual announcement for the winners of the President’s Medal – RIBA’s prestigious student architecture award. Previous winners include the acclaimed British architect Norman Foster (now Baron Foster of Thames Bank, in fact) and Sean Affleck, one of Foster’s later wide-eyed protégés. The award (split into silver, bronze and dissertation medals) helps recognise the best and brightest that architectural students have to offer, globally, and in a time where innovation is needed more than ever, its continued annual awarding is important to see. The team here at Munday […]

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4
Dec 2020

A Detailed Look At The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) 2021/2022

It seems like only yesterday that the announcements for the 2020-2021 CIF results were being published, but here we are again, having gotten around to next year’s application opening. With finances as stretched as they currently are for many within the education sector, the prospect of any additional funding is most certainly a welcome one. The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) has become a mainstay of the Government funding circuit, with its offerings helping many schools and academies to carry out vital maintenance, structural repair works and even to help with some expansion projects (though CIF capital cannot be used in […]

A piggy bank to represent the condition improvement fund.
27
Nov 2020

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) – What Is It And Why Exactly Is It Needed?

Back at the start of October, the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched a new scheme through the non-departmental public body Salix. It falls under part of the UK’s broader environmental commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. It’s known as the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) and it’s set to drastically improve energy efficiency within schools (and other public sector buildings) the nation over. And whilst not having been exclusively earmarked for the education sector, there’s a good chance that a large portion of the scheme’s funding will find itself […]

A sapling to represent efficiency improvements aided by the public sector decarbonisation scheme.
20
Nov 2020

Five Architectural Design Failures That Are Known For All The Wrong Reasons…

It’s all very well talking about the great and the good. We love nothing more than to watch an Oscar-winning performance, take in an unspoiled mountain vista or marvel at the brilliance of one of the old masters’ paintings. After a while, though, it can get a bit, well, dare we say boring? Variety is the spice of life, so they say. The world would be a pretty dull place were we not to have the bad to contrast the good! Architectural design is no different from this, and whilst there have, of course, been a huge number of staggering […]

The word mistake to represent architectural design failures.
12
Nov 2020

The Continued Growth Of Degree Apprenticeships

There was a time when attaining a good university degree from a prestigious university was perceived as being the zenith of ‘success’ for young adults. In recent times, however, this attitude has been increasingly challenged, and whilst a – what we would probably term – ‘conventional’ university degree is still a valid and much-vaunted pathway to follow, it’s certainly not the only one. Practical, vocation-based qualifications (apprenticeships, for example) have been gaining on their traditional counterparts for some time now, and show no obvious signs of slowing down. There are pros and cons to both, which is what makes the […]

A lecture hall to represent degree apprenticeships.
6
Nov 2020

The Current Trends Within Project Management

Behind every great project is a manager (as any PM will take delight in telling you) and the success of any and every scheme hinges on the ability of these professionals to plan, procure, coordinate and oversee how different strands of a project come together. These managers work across a multitude of sectors and areas, covering everything from the construction of smart cities to the commitment to a greener, cleaner future. It’s worth noting that project management is far from an immutable discipline – it’s not an ancient practice from time immemorial, never to be changed. It’s constantly evolving and […]

A wall reading 'projects' to represent project management.
28
Oct 2020

Don’t Get Caught Out! DIY Building Surveying Tips From Munday + Cramer

When you’re looking to purchase a home, it can be easy to get lost in the romance of the situation. When you’re thinking with your heart and not your head, the broken becomes ‘characterful’, the money-sink a ‘project’ and the overgrown ‘enchanting’. In short, we run away with ourselves a bit. The reality is that if you’re not careful then you might end up with years of expensive maintenance costs ahead. You’ve got to think to yourself – do you really want that extra space at the expense of a functioning boiler? Probably not. The team here at Munday + […]

A plug socket to represent electrical building surveying.
23
Oct 2020

Architectural Design: What Is BREEAM And Why Is It So Important?

The built environment is shaped by its regulatory frameworks and assessments; rules, guidance and standards that, in being met, ensure that buildings around the world are designed and constructed in the most efficient and sustainable way possible, not just from an environmental perspective, but from a socio-political standpoint as well. There’s one assessment method more than any other, however, that’s helped divert the previously often muddied waters of the built environment towards a greener, cleaner future – and that’s BREEAM. The team here at Munday + Cramer, a leading Essex-based architectural design and building surveying firm, wanted to explore this […]

A leaf and droplet to represent greener architectural design.
16
Oct 2020

Drones Have Become A Mainstay Of The Building Surveying Industry – Here’s Why

Every so often, a technology will come along that has a truly disruptive effect on an industry’s shape; a technology which not only tackles a sector’s existing limitations, but dismantles them altogether. The proliferation of drone technologies within the world of building surveying, in recent years, is one such disruptive technology. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) may often be small, but the impact they have can be quite profound. The team here at Munday + Cramer, whose firm boasts a renowned building surveying department in Essex, wanted to examine the technology’s current applications, as well as what we might expect […]

An image of a drone to depict its usage in building surveying.