BD: new look, revised content and a shorter name
Building Design, the weekly magazine for architects, has had a complete makeover and changed its name to BD – as it was already widely known by its readers.
The title’s new look, led by design team Simon Esterson and Stephen Coates, includes a different logo, bigger pagination, extra news features and analysis and a weekly technology section called Solutions, devoted to the practical side of architecture.
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The magazine will retain its usual seven pages of news but the coverage will now be followed by up to three pages of news analysis.
Editor Robert Booth said there would be a greater emphasis on photography and he hoped to increase the number of profiles of leading personalities in the industry.
“We are building on the magazine’s strong news agenda with more news features and, in particular, we are looking at doing more profiles,” he told Press Gazette. “There are some amazing characters in architecture and we need to get more people in the paper. It makes more sense to speak directly to other members of the community through profiles.”
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The first issue carries interviews with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and designer Richard Rogers on the future of British architecture and a look at the last building by Peter Smithson, the architect behind the headquarters of The Economist.
Solutions, the technology section, has been extended from monthly to weekly, including a full page of working drawings, in-depth features, product news and advice columns. “There was a lack of that in Building Design and a real demand for it on a weekly basis,” said Booth. “We are going to try to do it in a fast-paced, digestible, yet still intelligent way.”
The revamp also includes a new weekly cartoon by Robert Thompson and eight new regular columnists who are all experts in the field of architecture.
The editorial team has grown with the appointment of Will Hurst from the Harrow Observer as news reporter. The post of features editor has been made full-time and will be filled shortly.
Booth said the title had received substantial investment from owner CMPi following reader research at the beginning of the year. The revamp coincides with the launch of the title’s website.
Building Design was founded 34 years ago and has a controlled circulation of 26,400.
By Ruth Addicott
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