Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Torontos Board of Health will decide next week whether to hold public consultations on extending the citys ban on places where you can smoke.

On Monday, the board will look at recommendations to ban smoking on uncovered restaurant patios, in public building entranceways, on hospital grounds and on sports fields.

If the board approves public consultations, a final decision on extending the ban could come next year.

The suggestion for extended smoking bans comes from a Toronto Public Health report released last month that urges action to prevent residents from second-hand smoke exposure.

Things have certainly moved forward in public opinion, and we now have a public that is much more sensitive to second-hand cigarette smoke, said Coun. John Filion, who chairs the board of health.

Its time to move the yardstick forward.

Despite existing regulations, 15 per cent of adult non-smokers in Toronto were exposed to second-hand smoke every day or almost every day, according to a 2010 survey cited in the report.

Smoking is already prohibited in indoor workplaces and public spaces, as well as within nine metres of playgrounds, wading pools and city zoos and farms.

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Smoking ban proposed for Toronto restaurant patios, sports fields

Vancouver company offers superior customer service in the exterior maintenance industry.

Vancouver, British Columbia (PRWEB) October 16, 2012

Our commitment is to our clients and our focus is on end-to-end quality of service, says Director of Marketing Brendan Huff. Our business success is built upon the repeat customer. We retain our customers by providing superior service utilizing better technology.

AcroTech uses state-of-the-art technology to ensure efficient environmentally friendly service. If detergents are required for power washing, then only environmentally friendly products are used. Pressure washing is the fastest, easiest way to give your buildings exterior a facelift. For window cleaning, AcroTech uses Tucker poles and de-ionized water technology, ensuring sparkling windows every time. The company also offers gutter cleaning, installation and repair and steam cleaning, a process that is particularly effective in dealing with mold and fungus.

Customers will be pleased to know that Acrotech uses truck mounted vacuum systems to remove debris from gutters, minimizing any contact with your roof. This technology is proven effective and is the least intrusive gutter cleaning method. What's more, Acrotech only uses ladders with roof standoffs, which eliminate the possibility of denting or damaging your gutters. Acrotech treats your property like its own.

AcroTechs high standards of service clearly pay dividends as referrals and repeat customers now provide the majority of their business. Their prices are standardized and customers receive a clear statement of costs before work commences. Drivers reconfirm each appointment with clients 15-30 minutes before the scheduled arrival time and clients are booked into one- or two-hour time blocks so that there are no delays.

Customers needing pressure washing in Vancouver or any other exterior maintenance services should visit http://www.acrotechcsi.com for further information.

Brendan Huff Acrotech Cleaning Systems 604-614-4372 Email Information

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AcroTech Cleaning Systems Introduces Comprehensive Residential and Commercial Exterior Maintenance Service

BUENA PARK, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 16, 2012) - Buyers have snapped up all 18 homes in Brandywine Homes' new Hampton community, less than six months after models opened at the end of March.

"Sales at Hampton outpaced everything we've done in the past five years," said David Barisic, vice president of Brandywine Homes."The reception we received was fantastic."

More than 1,500 people toured the model homes at 8901 Holder St. in Buena Park the first weekend the community opened, an early indication of the high interest in these new homes.

Barisic attributed the strong sales to a combination of factors.

"We offered a family-oriented product in a good school district with competitive pricing, which resulted in an increase in economic stability."

Children in Hampton will attend the following top schools: San Marino Elementary, Walker Junior High and Kennedy High School.In addition, Oxford Academy, located in Cypress, Calif., is less than two miles away.

Hampton's prime location -- with easy access to both Los Angeles and Orange County job centers -- as well as a general shortage of new homes in the area also boosted sales, Barisic said.

The two-story homes range from 2,400 to 2,677 square feet, with four bedrooms (one of them downstairs) and three baths, and were priced in the high-$500,000 to mid-$600,000 range. The community is built on a 2.2-acre site.

The homes feature raised panel interior doors, fireplaces with electronic igniters, state-of-the-art interior communication wiring, cultured marble countertops in laundry and secondary baths, GE stainless steel appliances and granite kitchen countertops.

"The most popular design features have been the downstairs bedrooms and the open kitchen/family room areas," Barisic said."Combined with the spacious master suites, the homes were received very well."

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Brandywine Homes' Hampton Community in Buena Park Sells Out Within Six Months of Opening

This has been a good month for New York's late, lamented restaurants. First the Tavern on the Green's new operators signed on the dotted line to take over the de-Crystal Roomed Central Park standby. And today the Landmark's Preservation Commission voted to make the interior of the shuttered Rainbow Room the 115th landmarked interior in town. And unlike, say, the East Village Historic District, this one seems like a no-brainer to us. Now to get New Yorkers back up there!

Despite concerns that a 1980s renovation of the "Streamlined Modern" Art Deco restaurant high above Rockefeller Center might stop the space from being landmarked the Commission went with it unanimously. "The Rainbow Room came to epitomize New York City glamor," commission chairman Robert Tierney said in a statement. "It retains not only many of its original characteristics, but also several generations worth of memories."

The original Rainbow Room, with its famous dancefloor in the sky, was designed by Rockefeller Center architect Wallace Harrison with the help of decorator Elena Bachman and set designer Vincent Manelli and was updated in the 80s by Hugh Hardy. And it really is a gorgeous space that deserves to be seen by New Yorkers. So now the building's owner, Tishman Speyer, has to do is get a real restaurant in there. C'mon guys, do it! This place just radiates glamour.

Originally posted here:
The Rainbow Room Is Now Officially A New York Landmark

The Krebs Restaurant in Skaneateles

The building housing The Krebs restaurant dates to 1845, and it began as a restaurant under Cora Krebs in 1899. According to owner Adam Weitsman, the project is a board-for-board, historical renovation with a faade that will look identical to the previous one but will be updated. The project includes a new porch, new roof, an addition on the rear of the building and new landscaping. The interior will be modernized and will have an upscale, tavern feeling and all functions kitchen, dining room and bar will be on one level.

The new Krebs will operate under a concept known as farm to table. That includes sourcing as much of its food from local farms and markets as possible. The restaurant will be open three and a half days a week, from Thursday to Sunday brunch, with the menu changing daily. All proceeds from the restaurant will go toward local womens and childrens charities.

Locations: 53 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles Completion Date: February 2013 Cost: $4 million to $5 million Architect: Robert O. Eggleston, of Skaneateles Interior Decorator: McAlpine Booth & Ferrier Interiors, of Atlanta Landscape Architects: Pressley Associations, of Cambridge, Mass. General Contractor: MCK Building Associates, Inc., of Syracuse

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Cranes in the air: The Krebs restaurant in Skaneateles

ByteLight, a Cambridge startup specializing in LED-based indoor positioning technology, said today it has received $1.25 million in funding from individual and institutional investors, led by VantagePoint Capital Partners.

ByteLight said it will use the funding to build its team, deploy at pilot locations and expand its ecosystem of lighting partners. The company added its LED lighting-based indoor positioning solution helps commercial and enterprise building owners, public safety officials, retail outlets, airports, museums and convention centers target customized information, special offers and other data directly to users based on their precise location inside a building.

Accurate indoor positioning has been described as the holy grail of location-based services, said Aaron Ganick, CEO and co-founder of ByteLight. Our platform makes it easy for shoppers to navigate retail stores and find products, manages and optimizes enterprise employee operations, turns mobile devices into tour guides within a museum or public building, and helps people find colleagues and booths while attending trade shows or other events -- the applications for this technology are truly endless.

Company enabled lights transmit proprietary signals which can be picked up by camera-equipped mobile devices. Once signals are detected, the device then calculates its position without the need for an active network connection, ByteLight said.

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ByteLight raises $1.25M in funding

LA CROSSE, WI--(Marketwire - Oct 16, 2012) - The recent recession took a toll on pocketbooks and zapped small business bank lending, but it didn't diminish America's entrepreneurial spirit.

About 9.5 million Americans are self-employed according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the non-profit Kauffman Foundation reported last year that the startup rate is at its highest level in 15 years.

So how are people getting started? By embracing low-investment opportunities offered by home-based franchises like Kitchen Solvers.

When most people think of franchising, they think of gigantic brands like McDonald's that cost $1 million or more to open. But you don't need to be sitting on a fat wad of cash to start a successful franchise business.

Kitchen Solvers, for instance, has start-up costs as low as $52,535 for a home-based operation, and that includes all of your training, business software, initial supplies and franchise fees. Thanks to financing, many franchise owners are able to start a Kitchen Solvers business with as little as $30,000 cash on hand.

Why the timing is perfect for kitchen cabinet refacing

Kitchen Solvers is a kitchen remodeling business that specializes in cabinet refacing -- a process that saves customers money by refinishing old cabinets and replacing only worn-out or outdated components. The end result looks every bit as good as a full remodel, but usually costs a fraction of the price.

That's a message that resonates in the aftermath of the Great Recession, which has convinced Americans to put a greater emphasis on value, even as they tackle remodeling projects in growing numbers.

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University projects remodeling activity to increase by 5.9 percent through 2012 and reach a 12.2 percent growth rate by early 2013.

Several trends are causing the boom: Homeowners are finally tackling projects they delayed during the recession; buyers who snap up foreclosures are setting aside money for immediate remodeling needs; and Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age.

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Home-Based Franchises Like Kitchen Solvers on the Rise

In an audio-visual presentation, Lewis urged Caribbean architects to look more closely at strategic planning and positioning their firms in order to compete effectively in an aggressive market. Since architecture represents enormous financial and human resources, Lewis recommended that Caribbean Architects look more closely at how they present architecture to the public, and suggested the need for good quality architectural photography as an effective means to achieve that objective.

Laventille, Trinidad (PRWEB) October 15, 2012

However, built examples of contemporary architecture are few and far between so the general public is not yet comfortable to know what is well-designed contemporary architecture or poorly designed modern buildings. I outlined some initiatives that I think are critical to achieving Joy of Architecture and some thoughts on how we can go about developing a Caribbean identity and Evolving Contemporary Architecture. said Lewis.

Presenting contemporary Caribbean architecture is a delicate art that needs to not only seduce its audience but also to portray architecture in a form that appropriately reflects the enormous level of financial and human resources needed to produce better buildings.

Lewis described the nature and scope of a comprehensive marketing plan necessary in todays competitive marketplace and went on to demonstrate how architectural photography is essential to the strategy and how good quality photography can go a long way in terms of showcasing contemporary architecture.

Today the public can now view architecture in many forms of media; including social media, internet marketing and even more traditional media such as newspapers, brochures, architectural and trade publications and even published books. Its not enough to produce good design, although this is important for us architects. It is necessary to present architecture in an appealing way so as to explain good design and its benefits. The public needs to understand what we do and why we do it - well photographed architecture forms the basis for this dialogue. commented Lewis.

During the course of his research and cataloging buildings within the region Lewis has this to say about emerging trends observed I am seeing definite signs of a new trend in design which suggests to me that we are at the beginning of a new wave of architecture in the Caribbean, broadly described as a contemporary design movement

He then went on to explain that he had decided that a well-designed book showing 40-50 fine examples of contemporary architecture would go a long way towards providing the public with a single reference point to see what has been done here in the Caribbean. Lewis then presented a mock-up of a new book he is working on called Contemporary Caribbean Architecture that will showcase up to 50 selected projects in the Caribbean and is due to be published in 2015. But the future of contemporary architecture also requires changes by architects themselves, particularly in the processes they use.

Contemporary architecture has become far more complex in the last 20 years and architects also need to keep up to date with rapid developments so as to continue to be relevant and serve their clients with state of the art design. Two critical tools that can help architects produce better buildings are 3D CAD modeling or BIM and sustainable design.

Describing some of the benefits of using an integrated approach with 3D modeling he summarized the following example on a small 5,000 square foot building our firm designed using BIM we detected some 1,800 conflicts in the design coordination with other consultants. A significant reduction in design coordination conflicts can yield substantial time and cost saving during construction.

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Brian Lewis of ACLA:WORKS Shares New Directions for Contemporary Caribbean Architects at FCAA Conference in Barbados

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct 16, 2012) - Mortgage Architects is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Sylvain Poirier as Lead Planner in Montreal, Quebec.Sylvain cited the reputation and visionary mind set of the management team at Mortgage Architects as key reasons for joining.

For over 2 decades Sylvain has been working in the financial field, operating one of the largest independent brokerages in Quebec."CUSTOMERS FIRST" is the key rule of conduct that guided Sylvain from the very beginning of his career. Today, it is the satisfaction of thousands of customers, supported by him throughout their personal and professional projects that reflect his noble motto.

Deeply involved in the emergence and development of new skills in his professional field, Sylvain Poirier has worked as an editor and has taught Mortgage Brokering at theCollege de l''immobilier du Qubec. He has served as Vice President for a major Canadian alternative lender and has also acted as a consultant forCAAMPandOACIQ.

We are honoured and thrilled to welcome Sylvain and Pentagone Services Hypothcairesour Mortgage Architects Professional Broker Network said Luisa Simonetti, VP- Quebec Region.A seasoned broker, he is well respected with the lender & the mortgage broker industry.He will be a great addition to our Quebec Brokers team.

Mortgage Architects is a national mortgage brokerage with a national network of brokers across Canada and offices in Toronto, Mississauga, Vancouver, Calgary, Laval and Halifax.

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Sylvain Poirier of Pentagone Services Hypothecaires Joins the Mortgage Architects Broker Network

For years, the Courtyard development in downtown Chapel Hill has fallen short of plans to transform the property into a hub for retail and dining.

But with construction moving forward on a new concept plan that will bring apartments and new business to the Courtyard by the end of the month, the once-bustling square could soon be revitalized.

The Courtyard, a walled-in brick space on West Franklin Street, has proven to be a disappointment in recent years as plans for redevelopment consistently fell through.

The property was mismanaged over the years, said Ted Kairys, managing partner of Kairys Group and a new manager of the residential development in the Courtyard. At certain points in its history it has thrived, but it definitely fell off a cliff about seven years ago.

He said eight apartments have recently been added to the development. The lease period began in August for the apartments, occupied mostly by graduate students.

An additional 16 units will be ready by August 2013, he said.

Kairys said he attributes the failure partly to permits not being approved by the town.

We wanted to re-do it, bring student housing to the site, bring some new retailers in and make the space nice, Kairys said.

Bruce Knott, who handles retail leasing at the site, said his goal was to bring some vibrancy back to that corner of Franklin Street.

Were trying to keep the feel that the Courtyard has, but supplement it with better restaurants and retail users, Knott said.

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Courtyard construction brings promise of new shops and dining