Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Ottawa (PRWEB) January 09, 2014

RoseSun Window Coverings has a reputation for sober-minded engineering and precision installation. Since they have tackled some of Torontos largest motorization projects and are well-versed at managing and evaluating large-scale perimeters, they were the appropriate choice to modernize the motorized shade system at The National Gallery of Canada.

At the crux of the projects logistics was the necessity of maintaining climate control. The same leaks that accelerated the renovation schedule had over-taxed the delicate balance between air pressure and temperature control pertinent to art preservation. Gallery officials were deeply concerned that these conditions, if not well managed during construction, could deteriorate even further.

With an innovative and artistic flair, The Gallerys solution was to procure the services of Greenlandic artist Inuk Silis Hegh. His artistic covering, entitled Iluliaq, [Iceberg], emulated a melting iceberg replete with the sounds of cracking ice and flowing water. While it eloquently served the purpose of protecting The Great Hall from the elements, it also camouflaged the unsightly effects of ongoing construction that might otherwise deter patrons from visiting.

For both the Gallery and RoseSun Window Coverings, aesthetics were as important as engineering considerations. Although there is no doubt that current methodologies can readily achieve the notable goals of increased longevity and improved performance; remaining true to Architect Moshe Safdies original intent that The Great Hall should be seen as a vortex bathed in vibrant light was imperative. The fabrics would have to be chosen carefully. In the end, UV sunscreen fabrics with 10% openness were conscripted. The next step was to remake each panel; an exacting process that would preserve the design and scope of the buildings legacy.

It took slightly more than two months to build the massive staging necessary to reach the cables, motors, and sails RoseSun Window Coverings would ultimately restore. Their criteria was to replace plastic components with steel counterparts; and to supplant the twenty-year-old motors with modern technology and high-performance cables. When all four adjustments are complete, (estimated to occur at the end of January), RoseSun will have installed 32 new motors, 80 new cables, (enhanced by 32 safety cables), and a total of 80 sunscreen sails, the largest of which spans 3 stories in height.

It is to RoseSuns credit that they assimilated both old and new technologies into a system that will quietly and efficiently operate each sail without complaint or stalls; but even more impressive is RoseSuns ability to execute a project of this scope and size with such eloquence. They deserve accolades for their careful implementation of goals, their attention to safety, and their ability to make the process seem effortless and melodic.

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National Gallery of Canada Asks RoseSun’s Automated Experts to Assist in Renovation

Seeking For The Best Kitchen Remodeling in Montgomery AL?
Reach us to know more! Or visit us. Our team can do the planning and remodeling process of your kitchen. Get the kitchen look that you #39;ve been looking for. W...

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Seeking For The Best Kitchen Remodeling in Jonesboro AR?
Give us a call when you need us. Or visit us. A beautiful kitchen adds style and comfort to your home. Our company can beautify and enhance the overall appea...

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Kitchen Remodeling Los Angeles | Testimonial | Precise Home Builders (800) 805-0692
Precise Home Builders is the ideal professional general contractor for Kitchen Remodeling in Los Angeles California. Our valued customer offers his testimonial regarding his Studio City kitchen...

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Does your kitchen need a facelift this spring? The kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in your home and you want it to be inviting, warm and to stimulate conversation. Peggy McGowen, The Kitchen Queen, will present alternatives to creating amazing kitchens at the Fourth Annual Sugar Land Home and Garden Show, Jan. 25 and 26 at Stafford Centre. Learn whats new in cabinetry, countertops, appliances and fixtures to make YOUR kitchen the BEST possible, as well as designing a bath that fits your lifestyle, budget and personal preferences.

BEST stands for Beautiful, Efficient, Safe and Timeless. Beautiful, yes; Efficient use of the planet's resources and our own personal energy; Safe - because the kitchen and bath are the most dangerous rooms in the home; and Timeless, because remodeling a kitchen or bath is too expensive and time-consuming to be too trendy, said McGowen.

McGowen has operated Kitchen and Bath Concepts in Houston for 27 years, specializing in design and consultation of new and remodeled kitchens. She is a certified master kitchen and bath designer and a registered interior designer in the State of Texas. The family-run business is known for personalizing kitchen space to meet the needs of an individuals lifestyle and budget from concept to reality.

Families enjoy more informal lifestyles than previous generations, and the outdoor kitchen is an informal extension of the home, said McGowen about one of the fastest-growing trends in homes. Also trending for 2014 are kitchens with cleaner, open shelves with LED lighting. This adds drama but can also be used as a nightlight in bathrooms. Granite is still the most requested countertop material, although quartz countertops are gaining popularity because of low maintenance and durability. Bathrooms are trending toward elegant features such as chandeliers, embedded crystals and heated floors.

McGowen will be a featured speaker at the fourth annual Sugar Land Home and Garden Show. The Kitchen Queen is part of a series of presentations to inform consumers on luxury kitchens, design and product trends. To learn more about The Kitchen Queen and the many trends in home design for 2014, attend the show on Saturday (9 a.m. - 7 p.m.) Jan. 25 and Sunday (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.) Jan. 26 at the Stafford Centre, 10505 Cash Rd. in Stafford.

Tickets for the Sugar Land Home & Garden Show are $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, and children 12 years and younger can attend for free. Parking is available at no cost.

For more information about the show, call 832-274-3944 or visit http://www.SugarLandHomeandGarden.com, where a downloadable discount coupon for $2 off admission is available.

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Learn about top 10 trends for kitchens and baths at the Sugar Land Home and Garden Show

In an effort to keep our construction cost information up to date on our site, it is time for an update on the construction cost per square foot for one of our most popular project types: Office Buildings

Below are a series of charts, excerpted from RSMeans construction cost data, our go-to source on construction cost information. All graph images are courtesy of RSMeans Construction Cost Data. Data source: Reed Construction Data RSMeans/Charts: Reed Construction Data CanaData.

For the most common office building size, two to four stories tall, the range is from just over $140 per square foot in Winston-Salem to over $240 per square foot in New York Note that this is over $10 per square foot more than last year. The spread here is largely due to the local cost of labor and regulations that allowvarious construction types that are allowed in low rise construction. For example, in some cases wherewood frame construction is still allowed, depending on location and occupancy,this would help tokeep costs lower. In areas that are restricted to non-flammable construction, price per square foot will go up.

By taking advantage of savings provided by vertical construction, you will see approximately a 4% savings in cost per square footby increasing the stories to between five and ten stories. While one might expect a larger savings for that economy of scale, several new requirements come with the mid-rise building that are often not dealt with on the low rise buildings. For example, elevator shafts and service corridors get more complicated as well as HVAC systems.

The geographic spread in cost per square foot is identical to the low-rise data and the increase from last year is approximately $6-$11 per square foot depending on region. This is still principally driven by local factors such as labor costs and local regulatory requirements.

Finally, the high rise buildings see the most economic cost per square foot. For buildings between eleven and twenty stories tall, there is approximately an 11% savings over the mid rise buildings and 15% over low rise. this is largely due to the fact that similar elevator, HVAC and service equipment requirements are required for mid and high rise, resulting in more economy of scale for going up.

The data for this year indicates a $15-$30 per square foot or approximately 13% increase in construction cost over last year, depending on region. Note that over twenty stories starts getting into more unique building characteristics that will drive costs in various ways. For more information on estimating the cost of your office building during the early planning stages, contact any of us here at EVstudio and we can help scope the right size project for your pro forma.

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Construction Cost per Square Foot for Office Buildings ...

by CoyDavidson on February 6, 2013

Kirksey Architects released its 2013 annual construction cost update on office buildings and parking structures which is an annual poll of leading contractors to update current market conditions. This year the report has been expanded to include corporate interior construction costs.

Construction costs began to climb in 2012 and costs are expected to continue rising at a steady pace through 2013. A combination of a higher volume of projects in a number of sectors combined with labor and material cost increases will continue to drive up construction costs

Twenty one office projects, totaling 4.5 million square feet, are under construction in Houston as the citys robust economy continues to propel the Houston office space market and this doesnt include ExxonMobils massive new campus just south of the Woodlands.

Energy related companies are driving the uptick in major office projects and major interior lease deals in the Houston region. Many speculative office projects are in the wings awaiting a tenant and financing while new projects are being announced on a regular basis. LEED certification continues to be a standard for most office buildings. However, the current LEED standards favor dense urban locations, resulting in many suburban buildings settling for a level lower than similar projects built in 2007-2008.

2013 Office Construction Cost Update by Coy Davidson

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The Cost of a New Office Building - THE TENANT ADVISOR

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIAConsulting firm Bright Rich/CORFAC International has been awarded the exclusive marketing assignment and listing for a new commercial business center in St. Petersburg that will be the first newly-constructed LEED Gold building in the historic Russian city.

Called Eco Status, the class A project is being built to qualify for certification by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) for the environmental and sustainable features that are being integrated into construction of the new office building, which includes ground-floor retail. The general contractor is Renaissance Construction.

When complete and if the owners certify the building with USGBC, it would be only the sixth LEED certified building in Russia and the second in St. Petersburg. In 2010 a Moscow property was the first to be LEED certified in Russia and an office building in St. Petersburg was renovated to LEED Gold earlier this year.

Located in St. Petersburg historic district at Ligovsky Prospect, 140 and about 200 meters from the metro station Obvodny canal, the eight-story office and retail building totals 6,080 square meters (approximately 65,445 square feet) plus two atrium terraces. Marina Kukharenko, acting head of the department, foreign markets, of Bright Rich/CORFAC International won the listing and is marketing space in the building on a lease basis.

The average leasable floor area in the building is 590 square meters (approximately 6,349 square feet) and divisible from 50 square meters (538 square feet) to 300 square meters.

The business property is scheduled for completion and ready for occupancy June 20.

In addition to the sustainability features of the building, the project will have a unique automatic elevator-parking system designed to save time for people working in the building. There is also guest parking at the site.

The great location, certified LEED design and high service-level makes this property a very attractive location for major Russian and foreign companies, said Kukharenko, whose firm is based in St. Petersburg and joined CORFAC International in 2012.

Green building and other special features for the office space include:

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LEED Gold Office Planned for St. Petersburg

After three decades and with its service area growing daily, the Lumberton Municipal Utility District office has outgrown its four walls and is starting over with an energy-efficient building.

In the next few weeks, the 30-member staff will pack up and move from West Chance Cutoff Road to 625 FM 421.

District Manager Roger Fussell, who has been with the agency 14 years, said that from 2000 to 2008, their 63-square-mile coverage area saw a new house or connection per day. The district, which covers Lumberton and Kountze ISD, has grown substantially in the past 35 years, Fussell said. The current building was constructed when the district had fewer than 10 employees.

"Once we've moved out and organized and can find out how to turn on the coffee pot we'll probably put this one up for sale," he said.

Fussell said they took in mind that they wouldn't want to construct another building for another 30 years, so they built the new one with room for growth.

The additional space can be used for storage until it's needed, if the area continues to expand as it has over the years.

"We wanted it to meet our needs for now and future," he said.

The new office is a state-of-the-art facility, he said, Administration decided to do something no one else -that he's aware of - has done in Southeast Texas with an office building. MUD will harvest rainwater from its roof and recycle that to use to irrigate its landscape.

"Even though we're the water company, we want to show there are alternative means to watering the grass," he said.

All the lights in the building are LED and the structure is storm rated, allowing it to have its own auxiliary power in case a hurricane were to come through.

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Utility district gets new office in Lumberton

money section Saving & Spending Investing & Real Estate Career Insurance Retirement Tax Time eHow Now eHow Personal Finance Real Estate Building a Home Does a Sunroom Addition Raise My Property Taxes?

Mary Schultz

Arizona-based Mary Schultz has contributed articles about family, health, home improvement, agriculture and travel to newspapers and magazines. For over three award-winning decades as a marketing writer, Schultz has focused on technology, financial and insurance services and products, medical care, health and fitness, community heritage, tourism and charitable causes. She holds a Bachelor of Arts, honors English, from California State University, Northridge.

A sunroom, even if it utilizes an existing patio floor, is typically considered to be new construction in that it is an addition to an existing structure. Any new improvement a homeowner makes, such as adding rooms or a wing, building a patio cover, adding an in-ground swimming pool and spa or building a deck or a sunroom may increase the property's taxable value.

A sunroom is considered to be a living space, subject to local building codes. Codes are likely to be very specific. In general, you cannot construct, erect, alter, enlarge or convert a building or structure that is regulated by a community's building code without first obtaining a building permit.

In some areas, construction without a permit is in itself a violation of county code. It can be punishable by law as a misdemeanor. Additionally, you may embark on construction and then be issued an order to stop work until you obtain permits. You could be required to submit plans to the local building department and to pay penalty fees that are far higher than what the original fee would have been. Once you get the permit, you could be required to tear out and uncover work already done to provide for inspection.

Usually, new construction such as the addition of a sunroom is tax assessable provided it adds value to the property's assessed value. The revised assessed value is typically determined as of the date when the construction is complete and you get a certificate of occupancy. If the sunroom has changed the size of the structure by adding enclosed habitable square footage, only the amount of difference is considered for the new assessment. As an example, if the residence was formerly assessed as 1,200 square feet and with the addition of the sunroom it is 2,000 square feet, the increase in size is 800 square feet. The market value of the additional square footage would likely be added to the assessed value of the house.

Some homeowners decide to add a sunroom and not to obtain a building permit. No one in their neighborhood may report the addition to the local building department or to the assessor's office. They may intend to occupy that house all their lives and never sell. However, if the need to sell does come to pass, a problem can arise. They are usually required to disclose to any potential buyer that the addition is not permitted. At the time the property transfers ownership, the assessor may make the discovery and may take action for back taxes. The assessor would in all likelihood estimate or otherwise determine the date the construction was completed and make a correction to the tax assessment for the number of years permitted by local law.

What Is Property Tax Assessment? Property tax is most commonly based on the value of real property (improved or unimproved land) or...

But the installation of a completely new liner or heating system would, in fact, increase the property taxes. ... Does a Sunroom...

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Does a Sunroom Addition Raise My Property Taxes? | eHow