This year Modus has covered topics spanning the built and natural environment, ranging from staircase design to spaceport construction and even surveying shipwrecks.
We’ve looked at preserving Civil Rights heritage in Montgomery, Alabama, unpacked IKEA’s property strategy and uncovered a secret museum in Birkenhead.
But those weren’t even our most popular articles of 2024 – we have listed the most-read features below and they are well worth catching up on if you missed them earlier in the year.
How much are you paid – and should you get more?
We analysed the data from the annual Macdonald & Co Salary, Rewards and Attitudes Report and highlighted the most revealing statistics about who’s getting paid what in the built environment. For example, 62% of real estate professionals has received a pay-rise in the previous year but the gender pay gap stands at an average of 35.5% globally.
“The gender pay gap remains a very stubborn recurring theme” Peter Moore MRICS, Macdonald & Co
Sphere, Las Vegas: how green is that screen?
Las Vegas isn’t short of glitzy, brightly-lit venues but in September 2023, a new one opened called Sphere. It uses the same amount of electricity as 21,000 homes and its exterior contains 1.2m LED lights. Where is it getting all this energy from and how might it affect Nevada’s goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050?
“Sphere highlights how, even with its access to a large solar facility, it still needs to offset carbon to achieve its energy goals” James Kavanagh MRICS, RICS
Building Everton’s new stadium: ‘the people’s project’
A 53,000-capacity football ground in Bramley-Moore Dock on the banks of the Mersey is nearing completion and could be a catalyst for major regeneration in an underdeveloped area of Liverpool. And Everton hopes it could take them to the top of the table for sustainable stadiums too.
“It was the worst site to build on, but it will be the best site in the end” Alix Waldron, Everton Football Club
Boring tunnels: the Las Vegas loop
The second Las Vegas-focused feature in the most popular Modus articles of the year, this time focusing on the Las Vegas Loop, being built by Elon Musk’s Boring Company. It’s been hailed as having the “potential to radically change the way urban transportation operates” but critics say it’s an expensive vanity project that only Tesla drivers can access.
“Doing this with private vehicles … is an extremely inefficient use of expensive tunnels” David Levinson, University of Sydney’s School of Civil Engineering
How Luton Town revamped its stadium in just three months
Luton Town FC play their home matches in 119-year-old Kenilworth Road, boxed in on all sides by terraced houses. When they won a historic promotion to English football’s Premier League, they had three months before the next season began to make a series of upgrades to the stadium, to meet the league’s requirements.
“Within three months, we had to demolish and adapt a crumbling existing terrace on a very constrained site” Manuel Nogueira, AndArchitects
Could filling empty homes solve the housing crisis?
A housing shortage coupled with a huge number of homes sitting empty is a problem faced by many countries around the world. In the UK, for example, there are up to 1.2m empty homes. What can be done about them and is it oversimplifying the problem to suggest that filling unoccupied homes is an obvious solution to easing the housing shortage?
“Empty homes in the UK have grown at an average rate of about 5% every year since 2015” Chris Bailey, Action on Empty Homes
Stephen Radford MRICS: the pub surveyor
A chartered surveyor with 26 years’ experience buying, selling and valuing pub businesses, Stephen Radford MRICS manages an estate of 1,400 venues. It sounds like a dream job but it’s a challenging sector in which hundreds of pubs in the UK close every year. Yet, Stephen believes pubs will continue to evolve just as they have done over the past 500 years.
“It’s an asset class that we can all relate to. Everyone’s got a view about going to the pub” Stephen Radford MRICS, Punch Pubs & Co
Why AssocRICS paves the way for a career in surveying
Four members from around the world with AssocRICS accreditation give their thoughts on how Associate Member status lays the foundations for a career in surveying. Is AssocRICS accreditation a must-have for anyone starting out in surveying and is progressing onto MRICS status always necessary?
“The demand for surveyors will grow in the Philippines and I want to be part of that growth” Jomailyn Sanchez AssocRICS, Arcadis
Could 3D printed houses transform the built environment?
Texas-based company ICON is at the forefront of 3D printing in the built environment. It believes that this high-tech construction technique offers a viable solution for creating large quantities of affordable housing. Modus explores what’s been created already and what the future possibilities are.
“3D printing, as a modern method of construction (MMC), could have a transformative impact on how we build globally” Dawud Muneer MRICS, RICS
Preserving a national treasure: the Royal Albert Hall
The team managing the Royal Albert Hall keeps its public-facing areas running smoothly while major renovation projects are happening behind the scenes. This photo-story of one of the world’s most prestigious concert halls highlights the challenges of maintaining perfect harmony while modernising a 153-year-old Grade I Listed building.
“Over the years it has undergone many developments, in both big packages and little make-do-and-mend gaffer tape moments” Neal Hockley, Royal Albert Hall