''Building'' is one of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's oldest

business-to-business Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when: * A business is sourcing materials for their production process for output (e.g., a ...

magazines, launched as ''The Builder'' in 1843 by

Joseph Aloysius Hansom Joseph Aloysius Hansom (26 October 1803 – 29 June 1882) was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal, ''The Builder'', in 1843. Career H ...

– architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the

Hansom Cab The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn carriage designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, ...

. The journal was renamed ''Building'' in 1966 as it is still known today. ''Building'' is the only UK title to cover the entire building industry.

History

''The Builder's'' first two editors, Hansom and Alfred Bartholomew (1801–1845), did not last long in the job. The architect

George Godwin George Godwin FRS (28 January 1813 – 27 January 1888) was an influential British architect, journalist, and editor of ''The Builder'' magazine. Life He was one of nine children of the architect George Godwin senior (1780–1863) and trained a ...

(1813–1888) was editor from 1844 to 1883, and turned ''The Builder'' "into the most important and successful professional paper of its kind with a readership well beyond the architectural and building world." Godwin apparently wrote most of the content himself, relying on a staff of just five people. His successor, Henry Heathcote Statham (1839–1924), edited the journal from 1883 to 1908. Rival publication ''The British Architect and Northern Engineer'', founded as ''The British Architect'' in 1874, merged with ''The Builder'' in 1919, bringing contributions from architectural illustrator

Thomas Raffles Davison Thomas Raffles Davison ARIBA (1853 - 5 May 1937), usually credited as Raffles Davison or T. Raffles Davison, was an English architect, architectural illustrator and journalist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work featured in ''The ...

(1853–1937). Other contributors to ''The Builder'' over the years have included

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s such as

Robert Dennis Chantrell Robert Dennis Chantrell ( Newington, Surrey 14 January 1793 – Norwood, 4 January 1872) was an English church architect, best-known today for designing Leeds Parish Church, now Leeds Minster. Early life Chantrell was born in Newington, So ...

Henry Clutton Henry Clutton (19 March 1819 – 27 June 1893)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Photograph , http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pis&GScid=1366392&GRid=12186732&PIgrid=12186732&PIcrid=1366392&PIpi=3000944& was an English arc ...

(1819–1893), Josiah Conder, James Fergusson,

William Curtis Green William Curtis Green (16 July 1875 – 26 March 1960) was an English architect, designer and barrister"Quite ceremony in Archbishop's Palace", ''The Nottingham Evening Post'', 3 August 1935, p. 8. who was based in London for much of his career. ...

(1875–1960),

John Woody Papworth John Woody Papworth (4 March 1820 – 6 July 1870) was an English architect, designer and antiquary. He is chiefly remembered for "Papworth's '' Ordinary''" (1874), a reference guide to British and Irish coats of arms arranged systematically acco ...

(1820–1870),

Howard Morley Robertson Sir Howard Morley Robertson MC RA (16 August 1888 – 5 May 1963) was an American-born British architect, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1952 to 1954 and a Royal Academician. In 1949, he was the winner of the Roy ...

(1888–1963) and William White.

ODNB The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

They have also included the novelist

Hall Caine Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Caine's popularity during ...

, the engineer and antiquary

G. T. Clark Colonel George Thomas Clark (26 May 1809 – 31 January 1898) was a British surgeon and engineer. He was particularly associated with the management of the Dowlais Iron Company. He was also an antiquary and historian of Glamorgan. Biography ...

, and the short-lived journalist

Charles Chaloner Ogle Charles Chaloner Ogle (1851–1878) was an English journalist, killed while reporting on the war in the Balkans. Biography Ogle, fourth son of John Ogle of St. Clare, near Ightham, Sevenoaks, Kent, was born on 16 April 1851, and educated, with ...

. Other illustrators have included

Arthur Beresford Pite Arthur Beresford Pite (2 September 1861 – 27 November 1934) was a British architect known for creating Edwardian buildings in Baroque Revival, Byzantine Revival and Greek Revival styles. The early years Arthur Beresford Pite was born on 2 Se ...

and

Worthington George Smith Worthington George Smith (25 March 1835 – 27 October 1917) was an English cartoonist and illustrator, archaeologist, plant pathologist, and mycologist. Background and career Worthington G. Smith was born in Shoreditch, London, the son of a ...

(1835–1917).

Recent history and ''Building'' today

The magazine was named as the best-edited weekly business magazine by the

British Society of Magazine Editors The British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) is a professional association of print and online magazine editors in the United Kingdom. Established in 1981, the BSME has 148 members. Its annual awards—the BSME Awards and the BSME Rising Stars A ...

both in 1999 and in 2001. It was the business magazine of the year in 2002. Having acquired the magazine a year earlier from

Vivendi Universal Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...

, in 2003 Aprovia UK sold ''Building'' to

UBM plc UBM plc was a British business-to-business (B2B) events organiser headquartered in London, England, before its acquisition by Informa in 2018. It had a long history as a Multinational corporation, multinational media company. Its main focus was ...

as part of a £79m deal. According to ABC (

Audit Bureau of Circulations An Audit Bureau of Circulations is a private organization that provides industry-agreed standards for media brand measurement of print publications and other media outlets in a given country. The International Federation of Audit Bureaux of Circula ...

), the magazine's circulation for the year ending in June 2006, was 25,017, but circulation dropped during the recession of the late 2000s to 21,271 for the year July 2009 – June 2010 (the last year the title was ABC-certified), with the decline continuing in 2011 (the 11 November issue had a print circulation of 15,474).Audience Measurement, Building media pack, http://media.building.co.uk/PDF/Building-Media-Pack.pdf (Retrieved: 23 January 2013) ''Buildings website features industry news, jobs and an archive of over 80,000 articles. In 2006 ''Building4jobs.co.uk'' was launched focusing on industry jobs and careers. In January 2018, UBM sold ''Building'' (plus ''Building Design'', a venue directory and various events) to a management team, Assemble Media Group, led by former editor Tom Broughton.

Notes

External links

Scans of the first ten volumes (1843–1852)
at the

Bodleian The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

Internet Library of Early Journals
Building WebsiteSerial archive listings for The Builder, 1843-1906
- The Online Books Page {{DEFAULTSORT:Builder, The 1843 establishments in the United Kingdom Architecture magazines Business magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1843 Professional and trade magazines

History

Recent history and ''Building'' today

Notes

Further reading

External links