DesignSpace Newsletter::
May 2007

Interior Design

HOK to Design Seven Buildings in Korea
The New York office of HOK has been tapped to design seven new buildings in Incheon, Korea_six mixed-use towers and a hotel.

An elegant Georgian townhouse provides an intimate setting for hairstylist_s latest London salon
Retail interior specialist Caulder Moore was briefed to create Charles Worthington_s most intimate salon environment yet _ one that would stand out from the 21st-century salon look of the group_s other interiors by evoking the mood of a stylish period home.

The Temple of Design : New Places of Worship for a Multiethnic Society
Marking the Milan design week, IED is presenting an event entitled "The Temple of Design", a modern place of worship to cater for the needs of a multiethnic society.

Innovation in Indiana
Clarian Health and the Indiana University schools of medicine and nursing are helping enhance patient safety, quality of care and clinical outcomes with IU/Fairbanks Hall_The Clarian Education and Resource Center, which is scheduled to open in summer 2008.

Kitchen & Bath Trends
Over the last few years, the average consumer has been bombarded with information about remodeling. From network and cable television to books and the Internet, there are multiple sources making your customers more knowledgeable than ever before _ but mainly about products, not design.

Collaborative Effort to Provide Sustainable Products Training
The Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS) is launching Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sustainable products training with leading manufacturers for product purchasers.

Collaborative Effort Helps Present "Schools of the 21st Century"
In a joint initiative by The American Architectural Foundation and Architectural Record, "Great Schools by Design," key administrators from five school districts came together in Washington, D.C., recently to meet with 10 top school architects selected by the National Design Institute to design schools for these five districts.

Components Home
Bell Travers Willson, a London-based architecture and design studio, has launched a method that harnesses digital design technology and low-volume custom production methods to build a sustainable alternative to traditional housing.

The loft re-imagined
THERE is no single block that neatly sums up the way downtown Los Angeles is being transformed, condo by condo and loft by loft, into a place with real residential character. Just as there are many downtowns _ South Park, Little Tokyo, the historic core, skid row _ there are many architectural responses to the idea of downtown living in this city.

Architecture

New Orleans Recovery Plan Released
Guarded optimism greeted the unveiling in late March of a targeted $1.1 billion redevelopment plan for New Orleans' neighborhoods, more than 18 months after the city flooded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Green Gold
Treasure Island set to become enviably sustainable. Situated off rocky Yerba Buena Island and connected to the Bay Bridge, 400-acre Treasure Island, formerly the site of the 1939 International Exposition and home to a U.S. Navy base, is centrally located in San Francisco Bay, yet strangely desolate.A major urban renewal project should change that significantly over the coming decades.

San Antonio Chapter Prepares for AIA Convention
The 2007 National Convention and Design Exposition of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) opens next week in San Antonio. In this six-minute podcast, AIA San Antonio chapter president Chris Schultz, AIA, chats with McGraw-Hill Construction_s news director, Heather Hatfield, about how his organization is gearing up for the event.

Little-Known Law Could Cost Architects Plenty
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has joined a coalition of more than 60 business groups attempting to repeal a little-known but far-reaching tax law called Section 511. Passed last year, the provision requires federal, state, and some local governments to withhold 3 percent from virtually all government contracts to help cover the contractors_ federal taxes.

The Race for the Tallest Skyscraper
The race among the world's cities to build the ultimate record-busting, flat-out tallest skyscraper on the planet is fast and furious. And the obsession to build mega-structures in nosebleed territory is particularly acute in much of economically dynamic Asia and the oil-rich Middle East.

Web Exclusive: Green Within Budget
The flagship building of the new master plan for the University System of Maryland_s Universities at Shady Grove campus has amassed enough LEED credits to achieve Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). It is the first building in the University System of Maryland to achieve Silver certification or above.

Building on tradition
This £50m mixed use development for ING Real Estate Investment Management (UK), designed by Gareth Hoskins Architects and CDA, won full planning approval on the 28th March 07.

Flex Spaces
As life becomes more hectic, many homeowners seek custom houses that work efficiently and live casually. Rooms that can entertain 50 one night and feel cozy for a family the next are en vogue.

Wall Base is No Longer a Thing of the Past
The area where the floor meets the wall has traditionally been hidden with wall base. Its goal was to blend with either the floor or the wall and not be noticed. Rubber and vinyl wall base have long been viewed as an interior element of functional value and benefit, with aesthetics a secondary consideration. The last decade has been spent reinventing and re-imagining this interior element.

First Up
Welcome to the new 7 World Trade Center, where the artwork is a blast shield, the roof waters the park, the park holds the fuel tanks, and the lights follow you.

Property Developement

Despite Growing Pains, Las Vegas Conference Sees City in "Good Place"
Despite challenges ranging from a need for affordable housing to concerns about air quality, panelists who participated in Commercial Property News' Las Vegas Property Opportunities Conference generally agreed with one of the panel's moderators, Sheila Conway, who concluded the proceedings by saying that this fast-growing city "is in a good place."

£17 million Lanarkshire site sold for residential development
Leading global property consultant, Knight Frank has sold a 32-acre site in Coatbridge for £17 million to Barratt West Scotland on behalf of its client, HJ Bank

Hotel and Office Development Near Edinburgh Airport Submits Planning Application
Plans for a new hotel and an office building that offer well-located accommodation close to Edinburgh Airport, were lodged for planning permission this week by The EDI Group (EDI).

Sackville lands extra Station Hill site
Sackville Properties has acquired a prized site next to its proposed Station Hill development in Reading for an undisclosed price.

Groupe Germain to build two mixed-use hotels
TORONTO _ Québec City-based hotel developer Groupe Germain has announced two new projects: Hôtel Le Germain Maple Leaf Square in Toronto and Le Germain Calgary, both designed by LeMay Michaud Architects of Montreal.

_Movie Eateries_ Provide An Upscale Remake to Sagging
The old conception of a night at the movies has died. Digital downloads, video on demand and DVD rent-by-mail combined with increasingly theater-like home-entertainment setups are leading more customers to think twice before plopping down $10 for tickets, then shell out more for flat sodas and stale popcorn, only to be stuck with a theater full of screaming kids and unruly teens. No wonder the grownups stay home.

Building A New Albuquerque
Just Southeast of downtown Albuquerque sits 9,000 acres that are being developed into Mesa del Sol, the largest urban development underway in the U.S.

EMBRACING THE MIDWEST
When Equity Residential Properties Trust sold a 27,115-unit Ohio apartment portfolio for $1.09 billion last June, the nation's second largest apartment owner was in good company. Like many other large apartment REITs, Chicago-based Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) had lost patience due to years of lackluster rental growth in most Midwestern markets, with the Windy City serving as a notable exception.

Centro to Take Watt's Half of Centro Watt JV, Closes Galileo Shopping America Trust Purchase
With two new deals, Australia's Centro Properties Group has just significantly expanded its presence in the U.S.--again. Centro just revealed it has signed a definitive agreement with Watt Cos. to acquire its 50 percent ownership of the companies' joint venture, Centro Watt.