This 20 mile night walk around London takes place on 17 September and is in aid of Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres. Maggie's Centres aim to help people adjusting to living with a diagnosis of cancer so that they can get on with their lives.

Having participated in 2008, we are looking forward to taking part again this year, particularly as we are designing the Maggie's Centre North East.

We are very grateful of any donations!

The weekend began with a talk by Ted Cullinan on Friday evening. Prizegiving on Saturday afternoon for our Love Your Canal postcard competition was accompanied by a tea party and boat rides to and from architectural studios also holding events for the Festival along the canal.

An exhibition of Edward Cullinan Architects' and Ramboll UK's current and recent projects was open on Saturday and Sunday, as well as an installation on the exterior facades of the building that linked the canal to the street and provided a more welcoming approach to the studios.

More information and photos of the weekend can be found on the LFA pages of our website.

Thousands of new homes and associated facilities are due to be built across Cambridgeshire over the coming years. The Quality Panel, hosted by Cambridgeshire Horizons, has been created to provide ongoing scrutiny of the emerging masterplans of major new sites and help local authority officers and members in upholding and reinforcing the high quality standards, as set out in the Cambridgeshire Quality Charter for Growth.

Robin, speaker at next week's Cambridgeshire Horizons Conference, said: “The new Quality Panel is a fantastic opportunity because after many years of planning there is now a real programme of work to review. The Panel has brought together a whole range of disciplines, including transport, community, planning policy, landscape design and architecture, who will be able to share their specialist knowledge with the wider group. The important thing about considering these new developments is that no building is a stand-alone building any longer, it has to relate physically, spatially and environmentally with the existing town or city.”

School grounds are essential to children's learning and development, providing opportunities for healthy exercise, creative play, learning through doing and getting in touch with the natural world. How can we maximise the opportunity for all children to enjoy and benefit from well designed and managed schools grounds?

The seminar 'Integrated Landscapes for Learning, Health and Wellbeing', will explore these issues with examples from completed schools and others in design.

Laura will be speaking with Catherine Andrews, Chief Executive of Learning Through Landscapes and Jeremy Wagge, Education Design Director at Skanska Education.

"2010 is Edward Cullinan's (Architects) year, and this popular practice took the prize because the judges liked everything about the way it does business, from its schemes to its HR policies" - Building Magazine.

On winning the award, Ted Cullinan said "'It was like being roped together on a mountain', said Picasso after his and Braque's unearthing of cubism in the early 1900s. I love that quote for it so well describes our efforts to do good architecture together today. All of us here are happy to have this award on behalf of all our architect brothers and sisters who strive so hard to do their best."

The Building Awards were held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on the evening of 22nd April 2010.

The new Library, opened to students earlier in the spring, extends and complements the east wing of the 1959 Denys Lasdun College masterplan to create an ideal place for study that reflects the peaceful landscape, respecting and enhancing the adjacent architecture.

Already an integral part of the College, the space has been heralded as a great success by those using it.

Christopher Pratt, Bursar of Fitzwilliam 1993–2009, comments “Not every project comes in on time and within budget. Few do so with excellent working relationships throughout the inevitable challenges. What makes the Fitzwilliam Library and IT Centre truly exceptional is that not only is the foregoing true of it, but its design and its build quality are of the very highest standard. This is a real tribute to all those involved from conception to completion. A further tribute is that the users of the building are delighted with it, students having their favourite places and finding their studies inspired by them.”

Hoare Lea who provided Building Services Consultancy for the Digital Lab were delighted to win this award at the ceremony that took place on the evening of Wednesday 14th April.

The EEA competition recognises "projects that demonstrate a high degree of achievement, value and innovation."

The Digital Lab has won several awards including the People's Choice and Sustainable Design Categories in the Coventry Design Awards, the Public Sector Category of the Institution of Structural Engineers Awards, the Commercial Category in the Built In Quality Awards and was a finalist in the 2009 RIBA Awards.

Based at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle, the site is adjacent to the newly completed Northern Centre for Cancer Care. The centre will provide psychological support, information and courses for people suffering from cancer. The building will be highly sustainable, with a vibrant landscape surrounding a sheltered building surrounding a hidden courtyard. The project is due to start on site early next year.

The Maggie's Centre concept was conceived by Maggie Keswick Jencks who, when diagnosed with cancer, found there needed to be a place to go for support and advice. Before her death, Maggie worked up a brief, and the idea was continued by her husband, Charles Jencks. There are now around six Maggie's Centres around the country with several more in progress.

The Hillside Hub breaks new ground by taking what was originally envisaged as separate community facilities (apartments, community centre and cafe, PCT health centre, commercial store) on separate sites and integrating them together into one landmark community building on a single site.

On 28 January 2010, the Schools Secretary Ed Balls launched the Zero Carbon Task Force's (ZCTF) report after their recommendations were accepted by the Government. The report contains two years work by the Task Force which was set up in early 2008 to advise the Government on achieving zero carbon schools and was chaired by Edward Cullinan Architects' Senior Director, Robin Nicholson.

The report was launched by Ed Balls at the Pimlico Academy with the Energy Display Meter Programme. School leaders are able to register online for a free Energy Display Meter to be installed at their school. The Energy Display Meter will enable teachers and pupils to monitor electricity use, engaging them directly with sustainability issues and displaying real-time results on the school's PCs

On Monday 1 February, Robin Nicholson briefed staff at Partnerships for Schools on the report and will be giving a number of presentations, including one at BSEC (Building Schools Exhibition and Conference) on 24 February.

A free pdf copy of the Task Force's report is available for download