Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

If you asked real estate agents and home builders in the late spring how buyers were responding to the pandemic, they would answer with tales of multiple home offices and private gyms becoming must-haves.

But as the virus surged into winter, less sexy but more important components like air-filtration systems and new approaches to a condo buildings package drop-off zone were suddenly entering the conversation.

I think with COVID-proofing, weve learned so much over the nine months of this pandemic, said Vickie Alani, principal at architectural firm CBT. Its not really the house or the space causing COVID. Its not stuff. Its people. Its how we move through space and breathe.

While COVID-proofing is a term said somewhat wistfully, it hasnt stopped architects and home builders from accelerating healthy-living trends that were already growing in popularity before the pandemic. Enhanced water- and air-filtration systems and a general push toward sustainability are increasingly basic expectations in both the single-family and multifamily home sector.

These healthy-living trends particularly in the realm of air filtration are on track to be a new standard of post-pandemic home building.

Its certainly something we hear about with people spending so much more time in their homes and thinking about it in a different way as a safe haven from germs and disease and, in particular, air quality and air filtration and virus filtration, said Abbe Will, a research associate and associate project director of the Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard Universitys Graduate School of Design. All of that is suggesting this is a part of the market that is likely growing and almost certainly will have some kind of boost from the pandemic.

Architects like Alani approach air filtration in dense apartment and condo buildings with a focus on increasing mechanical systems, especially nine months into a pandemic in which potential renters and buyers are suddenly just as focused on air quality as they are amenity space.

There is also a return to operable windows, even in downtown high-rises where developers have shied away from installing them in recent years to save money.

I was against them in the past. Theyre more expensive, and zoning limited how little they could actually open, said Michael Procopio, vice president of development at Procopio Cos., a real estate development firm. Now I would never think about building a 350-unit building unless it had operable windows.

There are ways to abide by zoning and still deliver fresh air to residents seeking more ventilation, both during and after the pandemic. Juliet balconies are very shallow and basically enable full-length windows with the protection of a railing in taller buildings. Alani expects the trend to grow in the coming years, even with budget-minded developers in a costly construction environment such as Boston.

There had been resistance [to installing working windows] due to cost increases, she added. Its not huge, but everyone was after the last dollar because of rising construction costs. But I think moving forward, providing residents with more than the four-inch operability of one window in a room is a huge benefit. I think people will be more conscious of it.

Multifamily developers are also reworking the layouts of apartment and condo buildings, particularly in amenity areas and delivery drop-off points. Amenity areas that once housed communal eating areas and workspaces are getting compartmentalized to offer more private offices.

Weve always been big proponents of coworking and essentially mini WeWorks in our buildings, Procopio said. Now its a lot of little nooks, and it feels like an airport lounge. Its cozy.

Procopios development team has also installed enhanced high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration systems on elevator cabs to provide better ventilation in such a confined space. Residents can open main entrances to a Procopio building or summon an elevator remotely via a smartphone app at developments like Ironwood Apartments in Lynn. While this technology was offered pre-pandemic, Procopio said, he expects it to become more standard practice in light of a year of social distancing and other precautionary measures.

The CBT design team moved toward a secure porch-like delivery area at Watermark Central, an apartment building in Central Square. Deliveries are left in a secure vestibule thats visible to the concierge but doesnt require a delivery person coming into the building.

New filtration technologies or retroactive build-outs may initially cost more, but developers and architects expect prices to come down the more these features become new building standards.

This year, there would have been a cost impact because we were all scrambling, Alani said. But moving forward, this is how we will do buildings, and we will incorporate it into a system of decisions and not tack it on as we have this year.

Single-family homes are a different arena. While they dont have the same issues of shared air-filtration systems as a condo building, an individual home can still run the risk of bacterial spread. One of the ways Cindy Stumpo, CEO of C. Stumpo Development, tackles this is by zoning off the air-filtration systems of the bedrooms in the luxury homes she builds. Typically, air filtration is controlled on different levels of a house.

With the Stumpo method, someone quarantining in their bedroom wouldnt have to worry about contaminated air particles seeping into the rest of the house.

If the parents are in their bedroom sneezing and coughing, the kids arent going to get it in their rooms because I separately zone off, Stumpo said. If from the beginning you zone off, you can stop germs from spreading through your own home. But if youre not isolating and going to go into the family room or kitchen, its going to spread.

Experts interviewed for this story recognize there could be an opportunistic cottage industry of pandemic-related home materials born from the public health crisis. But all stressed the importance of the basics: air filtration. Items like HEPA filters or allergen-pleated MERV 15 (minimum efficiency reporting value) air filters provide viable ways to combat airborne bacterial spread. The cost of a basic air infiltration depends on the size of your home.

Ultraviolet lights are even available for residential air systems and can eliminate germs and viruses. While there is debate on how effective some cleaning materials and sanitizers work in combating an airborne virus, Stumpo installs in-duct UV-air germ lamp systems in the homes she builds. The purification system uses UV light and ions to destroy particulate, microbial, and gas pollutants on surfaces, as well as in the air of a home. The systems, from brands like Field Controls or Reme Halo, typically cost less than $500.

This is the only product that is not a gimmick, Stumpo said. I am actually designing seven new homes in Brookline, and Im making sure we are getting everything we can in these homes right at the beginning.

No matter how advanced the air-filtration systems get in one of her homes the spec ones typically start around $5 million in the tony neighborhoods of Brookline and Newton Stumpo said they still require some level of attention to get the maximum benefit.

Some people dont remember to change the filters, she added with a laugh while noting she sends a twice-a-year reminder e-mail to all her clients. They forget. I dont care how smart they are.

Cameron Sperance can be reached at [emailprotected]. Subscribe to the Globes free real estate newsletter our weekly digest on buying, selling, and design at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @globehomes.

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'COVID-proof' design is more than home offices and gyms - Boston.com

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Global Gutter and Roof Vacuum Cleaners Market 2020 Key Factors and Emerging Opportunities with Current Trends Analysis 2025 - LionLowdown

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Gutter and Roof Vacuum Cleaners Market in Europe to eyewitness massive growth by 2028 - NeighborWebSJ

NARRAGANSETT-SOUTH KINGSTOWN, RI On New Year's Day, Rhode Islanders will leave behind a year marked by unprecedented hardship and challenges. After spending much of the year navigating the once-in-a-lifetime coronavirus pandemic, many will no doubt welcome 2021 with open arms.

As we ring in the new year in our town, many local facilities and government offices will take the day off to recognize the start of the new year.

Here's a look at what's open and closed in Rhode Island on New Year's:

However, if you're hoping to step out for some socially distanced shopping or dining, there are several stores and chain restaurants that will be open on New Year's Day.

Retailers

Restaurants

Given the coronavirus pandemic and changing business restrictions in some states, we would encourage you to call ahead to confirm hours at any of these retailers or restaurants.

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Whats Open, Closed On New Years Day 2021 In Narragansett-SK - Patch.com

Leading Dublin Based Landscaping Company, Green Team, announces the launch of their new, user-friendly responsive website

Green Team has been and is still dedicated to ensuring their customers get only the best Landscaping services at affordable prices in Dublin, Ireland. Taking things, a step further to prove their dedication to their customers, Green Team has launched a new responsive website to improve its customer relationship, experience and enhance effective communication.

As one of the best Landscaping companies in Dublin, Green Team work and employ only certified and properly trained gardeners. They take pride in providing fast, reliable, and beautiful Landscaping, gardening, and power washing in and around Dublin. This Dublin Landscaping company specializes in a bunch of services to address the needs of all residential and commercial clients.

In addition to a host of Landscaping services, Green Team provides garden maintenance services, hedge trimming services, window cleaning, gutter cleaning, house painting, grass cutting & lawn mowing and garden shed repair and construction. The landscaper working on your garden or landscape is experienced and conversant with the intricacies of the Landscaping industry.

Their customer support team work round the clock to handle emergencies and routine calls as they dispatch their dedicated contractors to diagnose any Landscaping problem you might have.Anyone in Dublin interested in using a trustworthy Landscaping & gardening company can head over to Green Team and explore the various services they have in store just for you.

Media ContactCompany Name: Green TeamContact Person: Terry GavinEmail: Send EmailPhone: 087 442 6030Address:4 Kinsealy Business Park, Malahide City: Co. Dublin K36 HR59State: LeinsterCountry: IrelandWebsite: https://www.greenteam.ie/

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Dublin Landscaping & Gardening Company, Green Team Launches New Website to Improve Customer Relationship in Dublin, Ireland - Press Release -...

The Telegraph

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who hasnt been seen in public for several weeks after criticising Chinas financial regulatory system, has now disappeared as a judge on a TV talent show that he created. Mr Ma was absent from the final of The Apprentice-style Africas Business Heroes, a show that offers budding African entrepreneurs the chance to compete for a share of US$1.5 million (1.1 million) in prize money. Mr Ma was originally due to be part of the panel that judged contestants business ideas. But he was replaced as a judge by an executive from Alibaba, the ecommerce company that he founded, in the November final. His photograph has also been taken down from the judging webpage and he was left out of a promotional video, according to the Financial Times, which also reported that broadcast of the final has been delayed until the spring. The paper cited a spokesperson for Alibaba as saying that Mr Ma could no longer be part of the judging panel due to a schedule conflict. One of Chinas most successful entrepreneurs, Mr Ma appears to have fallen foul of its leaders after he criticised the countrys regulators and its state-owned banks in late October. In a speech in Shanghai, he called for reform of the regulatory system, which he said was stifling innovation. About a week later, the Shanghai Stock Exchange ordered a US$37 billion initial public offering of Ant Group, a financial technology firm co-founded by Mr Ma, to be suspended. Mr Ma reportedly hasnt been seen in public since then. In late December, Chinese authorities announced an investigation into Alibaba for suspected monopolistic behaviour, and ordered Ant Group to restructure its operations to meet regulatory guidelines. Chinese authorities are trying to tighten oversight of the countrys financial sector, but are also seen as wanting to rein in the huge influence of private tech giants. Mr Ma is a popular figure in China, and one of the countrys best-known businesspeople abroad. Formerly an English teacher, he founded Alibaba in 1999, which became Chinas biggest online ecommerce company. He stepped down as the companys chairman in 2019, but is still one of its largest shareholders.

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The heroes of 2020 - Yahoo News

In ancient Rome, tens of thousands gathered at the Colosseum to watch enslaved men, condemned criminals and wild animals fight to the death. These grisly gladiator clashes required great feats of engineering: To make caged creatures and prize fighters emerge from underground as if by magic, the Romans devised a labyrinth of secret tunnels beneath the arenas wooden, sand-covered floor.

These underground structures have remained exposed to the elements for more than a century, enabling the millions of tourists who visit the Colosseum each year to see them up close, according to Reuters. Now, the Italian government has pledged 10 million (around $12 million USD) toward the installation of a new, retractable floor that will restore the amphitheater to its gladiator-era glory.

We want to give an idea of how it was, and we are seeking proposals from around the world, Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum, tells the Times Tom Kington.

Per BBC News, architectural designs for the ambitious renovation are due by February 1. Italian officials say they hope to complete the project by 2023.

During the four centuries that the Romans used the Colosseum, the hypogeum, or network of underground tunnels beneath the arena floor, resembled a huge sailing ship, wrote Tom Mueller for Smithsonian magazine in 2011.

The structure consisted of staging areas, ramps, pulleys, ropes and other mechanisms that allowed workers to create a seamless show aboveground. Engineers even devised an underground elevator of sorts that lifted lions, bears, leopards and other caged wild animals into the arena.

The hypogeum allowed the organizers of the games to create surprises and build suspense, Heinz-Jrgen Beste, a researcher at the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, told Smithsonian in 2011. A hunter in the arena wouldnt know where the next lion would appear, or whether two or three lions might emerge instead of just one.

All told, the complex system of passages and lifts served a single purpose for the empire: to delight spectators and ensure the success of shows that both celebrated and embodied the grandeur of Rome, according to Smithsonian.

As Jonathan Hilburg reports for the Architects Newspaper, Italian authorities say the restored version of the floor will feature replicas of trapdoors, lifts and other mechanical elements used in Roman times.

[The renovation] will be a major technological intervention that will offer visitors the opportunity to not only see the underground rooms ... but also appreciate the beauty of the Colosseum while standing in the center of the arena, says Culture Minister Dario Franceschini in a statement quoted by BBC News.

He adds that the retractable area must be able to close quickly in order to protect the ancient tunnels from the elements.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D., the Colosseum fell into disrepair, alternatively serving as a quarry, a fortress and a convent. Partially dismantled as a handy source of building materials, the amphitheaters stones were later repurposed during construction of St. Peters Basilica and other Baroque churches, according to History Todays Ann Natanson.

The hypogeum, meanwhile, was eventually filled with dirt and rubble. By the early 20th century, when archaeologists first started restoring and researching the space, the tunnels had become overgrown with plants.

Russo tells the Times that after the renovation, the Colosseum plans to host concerts and theater productions on the new floor.

The arena will be used for high culture, meaning concerts or theater, Russo adds, but no gladiator shows.

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Italy Will Rebuild the Colosseum's Floor, Restoring Arena to Its Gladiator-Era Glory - Smithsonian Magazine

Sunlight is not typically associated with the dingy basement vibe that envelops commuters passing through Penn Station.

But natural light spills across the new Moynihan Train Hall through its massive, 92-foot-high skylight ceiling and illuminates another surprise: permanent installations by some of the most celebrated artists in the world.

Kehinde Wiley, Stan Douglas and the artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset have major pieces prominently displayed in the new $1.6 billion train hall set to open Friday, offering an expansion of Penn Stations concourse space and serving customers of Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road. The hall, designed by the architecture firm SOM, also connects to subway lines, although they are some distance away.

The 255,000-square-foot train hall is inside the James A. Farley postal building, the grandiose Beaux-Arts structure designed by McKim Mead & White in 1912, two years after the original Pennsylvania Station. (New Yorkers may know the Farley Building from rushing up its giant staircase to file income taxes before midnight in mid-April.)

The new hall is named for Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, who first introduced plans for a renovation in the early 1990s, but they were mired in delays for years. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the driving force behind the project, in 2016 announced a public-private partnership for developing the hall, including Empire State Development, Vornado Realty Trust, Related Companies, Skanska and others.

The Moynihan Train Hall serves as a redemption of sorts for the doomed Penn Station, demolished in 1963 in an act deemed so heinous for the citys historical buildings it is said to have kicked off the nascent national preservation movement.

The new hall fails to solve many of New Yorks myriad transportation problems congestion on the tracks, the need for a new tunnel under the Hudson River, the blight of the existing Penn Station, to name a few. But officials say its a necessary step to complete other transit projects, add more train capacity and to alleviate crowding at Penn Station.

The train hall opens at a time when citizens are being asked to refrain from nonessential travel to limit the spread of the coronavirus, and at a moment when commuter train traffic is extremely low.

But the governor has pointed to the achievement of delivering a major infrastructure project on time despite a pandemic, as well as one that would transcend the Covid-19 era. Mr. Cuomo called the new hall deeply hopeful.

It speaks to the brighter days ahead when we will be able to congregate, to pass one another and to share the same space free of fear, Mr. Cuomo said. It promises renewal and rebirth of civic life in New York, and points to the opportunity ahead.

The completion of the project a station meant to welcome commuters and the rest of the world to New York serves as a bright spot at the close of a dark year for New York City where deaths from a global pandemic soared in spring and are on the uptick again, and scores of beloved restaurants and shops have shuttered as the virus pummeled the local economy.

On a recent tour of the train hall, masked workers were putting the finishing touches on blue curved benches in a walnut seating alcove in the ticketed waiting area. The halls radiant flooring feels warm to the touch, and, for now at least, is sparkling clean. Majestic trusses and vaulted skylights nod to the elegant traceries in Penn Stations original concourse. The hall offers free Wi-Fi and a lounge for nursing mothers. A 12-foot-tall clock with a typeface designed for road and railroad signage serves as a reminder of the clock in the demolished Penn Station. Intended as a meeting point, it hangs 25 feet above the floor.

Construction on the new hall began in 2017 with painstaking restoration of the landmark buildings 200,000-square-foot stone facade, its 700 windows, copper roof, steel trusses and terra-cotta cornices. Some of the 120,000 square feet of shopping, dining and retail space wont be ready right away. The train hall wont take up all the space in the building; the post office will still operate. Facebook is moving in as the main commercial tenant.

While the new hall pales in comparison to the majesty of the starry-ceilinged main hall of Grand Central Terminal, it will serve as a far more pleasant welcome to commuters than Penn Station, which has been derided as the La Guardia of train stations.

The addition of work by well-known artists adds a celebratory vibe, a sense of pride in the public sphere and a method Mr. Cuomo has prioritized at similar transit points in four stations along the Second Avenue subway line (with pieces by Chuck Close, Jean Shin, Vik Muniz and Sarah Sze) and a new Terminal B at La Guardia Airport with installations from Ms. Sze, Laura Owens, Sabine Hornig and Jeppe Hein.

Theres something to be said about a society gathering around an artist, around his or her vision, to say this is something we believe in collectively, said Mr. Wiley, best known for his portrait of former President Barack Obama, which hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. New York needs this right now.

The space seems intended to always keep commuters looking up, from its sprawling glass skylight to two major ceiling installations at each entry way Mr. Wileys stained-glass paintings of break dancers at 33rd Street and Elmgreen & Dragsets The Hive, a cluster of upside-down models of futuristic skyscrapers, at 31st Street.

Its an opportunity for artists to stretch themselves and do something new and different, said Nicholas Baume, director and chief curator of the Public Art Fund, which oversaw the art project.

The artists submitted their proposals in 2019, before any of them envisioned Covid-19 spreading across the world, and then executed their pieces from afar. The installations cost $6.7 million.

Heres a first look at the artists and their projects.

Mr. Wileys backlit, hand-painted, stained-glass triptych called Go, across the ceiling of the 33rd Street entrance, depicts sneaker-clad break dancers who appear to float across a blue sky.

The artist, whose paintings often reimagine well-known works with Black subjects, said he wanted to embrace the rarity of contemporary art on stained glass as well as play with the language of ceiling frescoes by using his installation to celebrate Black culture.

So much of what goes on in ceiling frescoes are people expressing a type of levity and religious devotion and ascendancy, said Mr. Wiley, who has a studio in New York but spent much of the year in his studio in Dakar, Senegal. For me the movement and space made so much more sense thinking about ways bodies twirl in break dancing.

One woman wears baggy yellow pants and a crop top; another is outfitted in a denim jacket. Instead of angels and gods in classical frescoes, Mr. Wiley offers Nike logos and pigeons in midflight. The outstretched finger of a young woman in camouflage shorts conjures images of The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapels ceiling.

Its this idea of expressing absolute joy break dancing in the sky, he said, noting that break dancing began in New York City.

Mr. Wiley toured the train hall taking note of decorative flourishes and metal work. The molding around the three panels was designed to coordinate with the metal around windows outside the building.

Mr. Wiley said he deviated from his usual method of street casting, or selecting strangers from the street as models, because he was pressed for time in delivering the work, and instead turned to the subjects of prior paintings.

The aesthetic of Black culture is the aesthetic of survival, of buoyancy and saliency and the ability to float in the midst of so much, Mr. Wiley said, adding that he hoped the work would make commuters pause and smile.

And I hope they recognize themselves, he said. I wanted to create, at the intersection of trade, commerce and transportation in the capital of the worlds economy, something that sits as a testament to Black possibility.

Giant photographic panels by Mr. Douglas, a Canadian whose work re-enacts historical moments of tension that connect local histories to broader social movements, serve as the backdrop along a more than 80-foot wall of a waiting area for ticketed passengers. The series, Penn Stations Half Century, is a homage to the original Penn Station, with Mr. Douglas drawing on archival research to recreate nine small but noteworthy moments that occurred there.

Mr. Douglas, who is representing Canada in the 2022 Venice Biennale, invited 400 people 100 each day of shooting to an empty hockey arena in Vancouver, where they were dressed in period costumes and spaced apart. He stitched together numerous images on digitally recreated interiors of the demolished station based on old floor plans and photos.

The panels include a depiction of the outlaw and folk hero Celia Cooney, also known as the Bobbed Hair Bandit, meeting crowds in 1924 when she was returned to New York to face charges. Mr. Douglas also reimagined Penn Station as the soundstage for the director Vincente Minnellis 1945 film The Clock, starring Judy Garland.

One joyful image recreates a very New York moment: a spontaneous show put on by vaudeville performers inside the hall after a major snowstorm stranded them and other travelers in 1914. It was led by Bert Williams, a Black singer and comedian who also created pioneering musical theater productions.

This is complete fantasy we dont know what it looked like, Mr. Douglas said of the scene he created. We found out who was doing shows on the Eastern Seaboard and incorporated them. We found acrobatic troupes of the era and reference images for costuming and their acts.

The pandemic threw a curveball to Mr. Douglas.

Each model was masked until the moment before the shutter clicked. And everyone was photographed individually, even for large crowd scenes, then the images layered atop one another.

One person did pass out, Mr. Douglas said, but to everyones relief, Covid-19 was not involved. She was wearing winter clothes inside on a July day, he said.

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, Berlin-based artists whose work explores the relationship between art, architecture and design, created The Hive, a set of up to nine-foot-tall models of skyscrapers that hang upside down like stalactites from the ceiling at the 31st Street entrance.

The aluminum buildings, some replicas and some purely fictional, look futuristic with their perfect edges and tiny lights. A mirrored base allows commuters to feel projected into the cityscape and creates a sort of mirage of an imaginary city, the artists explained.

Thats an important aspect of it, that people do see themselves reflected in the base plate, Mr. Dragset said. We like that theres an interaction between the audience and the work itself.

Mr. Dragset said the work was named The Hive to reflect how cities, with their richness of diversity, function because people accept certain rules for coexisting.

Its about a huge collaboration in order to make everyone survive, he said.

The installation contains nearly 100 buildings, most made of aluminum, that the artists hoped would offer commuters a new experience each time they entered.

People are often in a rush when they go to the train, Mr. Elmgreen said. We thought of making something that you could get the sense of in one viewing, but if you wanted to have a full experience you could stop and look up and discover new aspects of the artwork over and over again.

The exhibit includes 72,000 LED lights; six buildings can change colors.

Shipping the work to New York from Germany, where it was fabricated, was nerve-racking, the artists said. Together, the buildings weigh more than 30,000 pounds. Mr. Dragset was the only artist among the four who was able to travel to New York to oversee installation this month.

I saw it coming up and coming together and was there for this magical moment of the lights coming on, he said. Both me and my product manager, we shed a little tear.

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Moynihan Train Hall Brings Art to Penn Station - The New York Times

The project isn't anticipated to have a completion date until 2023 but when it's done, it'll have been an unbelievable undertaking.

Many people don't realize that Rome's famed colosseum was actually once far more technologically-advanced than what we see today. The ruins of the colosseum as it stands only echo its historic past and don't fully do it justice, as it was once a sight that many believed were full of mystical wonder and allure. Part of this allure was the floor that actually retracted to reveal a scene of violence, victory, and tragic loss below it, and this is the same type of illusionary magic that Rome hopes to bring back to the colosseum with new construction plans in place for the project.

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On the same sight where many tourists now gather to witness the remains of what once was, at one point in time,tensof thousands of spectators gathered to view prizefighters who were enslaved and predatory animals battle with one another. While the new plans for the colosseum do not include anything of that nature (obviously), the results of the finished project will be nothing short of spectacular when it comes to events, concerts, and theater performances. It's the hope of Rome that this installation will not only provide an incredible venue from which to watch these things but that it will also bring the colosseum itself back to its former glory during the days when it was one of the most significant destinations in the city.

As the colosseum stands today, every floor is able to be seen from the interior of the structure itself. At one point, though, the hypogeum, or inner labyrinth of the colosseum, was once hidden by a floor made of wood and sand. The goal is to separate the floors once again to give the same appearance that whichever show is taking place on the said floor has appeared by magic, as it was believed to have done centuries ago. The project is anticipated to cost millions, with Italy's governmentalready pledging almost $12 million USD. Now, all that's left is for a design team to come in and coordinate the project while creating a design that's historically accurate as well as functional.

The most intriguing part of the project is its historical accuracy. During the days when the city of Rome was at its height and one of the most revered empires in the world, the colosseum was a place where all inhibitions were thrown to the wind as spectators witnessed things that modern-day society would deem inhumane and heinous today. These things included setting wild animals loose in the colosseum with a trained fighter, and part of that was the uncertainty and unexpectedness of it all which made it (morbidly) thrilling to viewers. These animals would arrive in random locations around the colosseum floor thanks to the addition of trapdoors and secret passageways that were created to throw off suspicion and make each fight incredibly unpredictable. This is the same technology and design that Rome intends to implement in the colosseum today with the goal in mind to incorporate similar surprise features.

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According to Dario Franceschini, the culture minister, the renovation "will be a major technological intervention that will offer visitors the opportunity to not only see the underground rooms but also appreciate the beauty of the colosseum while standing in the center of the arena." Whereas during ancient Roman times, the use of the floor appeared to be some type of mystical magic, nowadays, it's the hope of the city that the new design would allow visitors to fully understand the colosseum's architecture as well as how it would have served its purpose long ago. While it's intended to be a central location for concerts and theater, it's first and foremost a piece of history and an icon in terms of Rome's past, and it's hoped that the two will be accepted with a sense of balance and appreciation of all the colosseum has represented.

While there are no plans to begin building right now, the project does have a timeline and all plans from designers are expected no later than February 1st, which means there could be more news to follow in the spring of 2021. However, with that being said, this project is no small undertaking - not only do architects need to respect and ensure that the original structure will be safely protected while adding new structures, but the plans themselves must be in line with the historical design of the colosseum itself. With that being said, the date for the finished project is anticipated in 2023.

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Originally from New York, Katie is used to a fast-paced lifestyle. She got her personal start with writing in the second grade, and carried that passion with her until she won a spot in her high school's published poetry book - but not before becoming the News Editor and columnist for the high school newspaper. In college, she majored in English Literature with an emphasis in Political Science, soaking up most creativity and method from one of the last professors to study under famed beat poet Allen Ginsberg. The more she wrote, the more she learned about the world and, more importantly, herself. She has been writing professionally and has been published since the age of 19, and for nearly a decade has covered topics in entertainment, lifestyle, music news, video game reviews, food culture, and now has the privilege of writing and editing for TheTravel. Katie has a firm belief that every word penned is a journey into yourself and your own thoughts, and through understanding this, people can begin to understand each other. Through her voice, she brings personality, research, and a bit of friendly sarcasm to every piece she writes and edits.

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Rome's Colosseum Could Be Returning To Its Former Glory With A Retractable Floor - TheTravel

Judy Rose, Special to the Detroit Free Press Published 7:00 a.m. ET Jan. 2, 2021 | Updated 8:02 a.m. ET Jan. 2, 2021

A house with a handsome landscape in the gated Turtle Lake community. Pond and fountain view and a well-finished lower level. Wochit

Twenty years ago this was the showcase house in Bloomfield Township for the posh new gated and guarded neighborhood called Turtle Pond.

Since then its second owners enriched the house and its setting with an updating by interior designer Jeffrey King and a huge revamp of the grounds by landscape designer Deborah Silver.

The house is sheathed with cedar siding above a base of granitewith a partly enclosed courtyard in front. Gutters are copper. Its wide front steps, courtyard and driveway are stone pavers. It has a new cedar roof, with swooping witches-hat dormers.

It sits on a double lot, now loaded with mature evergreens, regimental hedges and hydrangea. Realtor Preka Berishaj said the second lot is an additional price, $650,000. That includes a large play structure.

A fountain is in the middle of Turtle Pond as seen from the rear of the house. It's all part of the gated Turtle Lake community which has 113 homes.(Photo: Teuta Photography)

To its rear this houses view is Turtle Pond and its fountain. Close in, a raised organic garden is wrapped with a 7-foot fence to keep out deer.

Inside, these owners many changes included installing oak and cherry floors and building out the closets. They had the main stairs wrought-iron railing copied. Now its continued at the loft over the great room and as a railing for outdoor terraces.

They changed the kitchen backsplashes to a light-toned tile with designs sculpted in.

The foyer has a stone tile floor with faux stone paint on the walls. These owners had the wrought-iron railing copied and repeated it at the upstairs loft and outside terrace.(Photo: Teuta Photography)

One especially nice spot is the sunroom, which is also the breakfast room. Two walls here are multipaned glass and French doors. They give a view of the pond and fountain and let light pour into the kitchen. All four seasons look beautiful, the owner said.

Besides a Viking range with its oven, the kitchen has a stack of three more Viking ovens. They are a warming drawer, a convection oven and a microwave.

The large owners suite is on the main floor, two stories tall. The view through French doors is the fountain with a terrace outside.

The owner's suite of this home at 2937 Turtle Pond Court in Bloomfield Twp. Turtle Pond is a neighborhood of 19 houses in the larger Turtle Lake development, which has 113 houses and walking trails. Like all the Turtle Lake neighborhoods, it's only entered through one set of main gates, which are staffed with a 24-hour guard.(Photo: Teuta Photography)

The main floor has a great room 25 feet long with a massive limestone fireplace. An 18-foot loft overlooks it through the railing copied from the stairs. This is made into a reading nook with sofas and built-in bookshelves designed by Jeffery King.

The walkout lower level is very thoroughly finished. It includes a guest suite with French doors to the outside and a bathroom thats ADA accessible. At one point these owners hosted a handicapped relative, with the help of a stair lift between the lower and main floors. That lift is taken out now.

The rest of the lower level is a big multipurpose room that has a stone fireplace, built-in cupboards, a full bar, a small kitchen and a pool table. It has pine walls that had been whitewashed, but these owners had them stripped and stained.

The lower level entertainment area of this home at 2937 Turtle Pond Court in Bloomfield Twp. Turtle Pond is a neighborhood of 19 houses in the larger Turtle Lake development, which has 113 houses and walking trails. Like all the Turtle Lake neighborhoods, it's only entered through one set of main gates, which are staffed with a 24-hour guard.(Photo: Teuta Photography)

On the second floor is a large bonus room, now set up as a serious gym. They had a personal trainer come to the house.

This free-standing house is a site condo. Owners can contract with their association for lawn and garden care if they wish.

Turtle Pond is a neighborhood of 19 houses in the larger Turtle Lake development, which has 113 houses and walking trails. Like all the Turtle Lake neighborhoods, its entered through one set of main gates, which are staffed with a 24-hour guard.

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Where: 2937 Turtle Pond Court, Bloomfield Township

How much: $2,399,000

Bedrooms: 5

Baths: 4 full, 2 half

Square feet: 5,285 in the two main floors, plus 2,300 finished in the walkout lower level.

Key features: Handsome house with handsome landscape in the gated, guarded Turtle Lake community. Pond and fountain view. Well-finished lower level with accessible suite, landscape maintenance available, 24-hour security. Second lot with play structure available.

Contact: Preka Berishaj, Victor Properties, 248-568-4580.

In order to limit our staff's exposure to coronavirus, the Detroit Free Press is temporarily suspending its practice of using our photographers to capture images for House Envy and is instead using photographs prepared by listing Realtors, with credit to thephotographers. We thank the Realtors for helping in this effort.

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$2.4M Bloomfield Twp. home in exclusive Turtle Pond offers fountain views, walking trails - Detroit Free Press