Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Is it worth it to upgrade a laptop's RAM or storage? We had a chance to find out when Dell asked us to test the upgradability of its Inspiron 15 7000.

I admit that as I faced this challenge, I started sweating. Panic-sweating. In my experience, upgrading a laptop is never a fun time. Cracking the case open feels borderline illegal, and once youre inside you find a maze of tiny screws, tiny parts, tiny wireslike disarming a bomb built for ants. Many laptops don't want to be opened, hiding the screws or voiding the warranty if you dare.

Imagine my surprise when I found the Inspiron 15 7000 almost...friendly? Getting inside still feels a bit illicit, but it was pretty easy to do. Was it worth it? We ran benchmarks to find out.

The Inspiron 15 7000 is a good candidate for upgrades, because no single configuration is perfect. The model Dell sent over is the top-of-the-line Inspiron 15 7000 Model 7591 (currently $1,050 on Dell.comRemove non-product link), a humble little machine that packs an Intel Core i7-9750H, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050, a 512GB M.2 SSD, and 8GB of DDR4 RAM.

Its a strange machine, for sure. At just over $1,000, the Inspiron 15 7000 still feels a bit overpricedblame the Core i7 processor and that generous 512GB of storage. But only 8GB of RAM? Meanwhile, the cheaper $900 modelRemove non-product link touts a Core i5-9300H and Intel UHD 630 graphics, but 16GB of RAM.

Whats an enterprising buyer to do if they want a Core i7-9750H and 16GB of RAM to go with it? You do it yourself, of course.

The Inspiron 15 7000 is held together by eight screws, all very visible on the bottom of the machine. The three along the hinge side are captive, meaning theyre not meant to come out of the lid. After turning them a bit, youll hear a pop as the threads snap back into place. Stop turning! Theyre out, even if its difficult to tell.

Captive screws help separate the bottom panel from the rest of the chassis. Once youve loosened all three, you should notice the side with the hinges has already begun separating. All thats left is to loosen the five remaining screws. Keep a coffee cup nearby to stash them so they dont get lost.

Then, get ready to rockby which I mean, find a guitar pick if you have one. A spudger is the correct tool for the job, but anything will do so long as its thin, durable, and plastic. Starting from the existing gaps on the hinge side, run your plastic doohickey under the edges to pop the clips holding the bottom panel in place. This is the part that always feels illegal. Even after youve freed the edges you might notice the panels still holding on. Give the captive screws one more twist if this happens. Thats usually the culprit.

And voila, were inside. From here, the hardest part is just deciphering all the various components.

Luckily if youre here to swap RAM, Dell labeled everything for you. DIMM A and B are covered by a thin black sheet. Lift it up and youll see the existing 8GB stick, which is easily freed by pressing down the little clips on either side. Line up your replacement RAM with the slot, press it in (firmly), then lower it until it clicks into place.

Out with the old...

...and in with the new.

Keep in mind: You ideally want RAM to match. Tempting as it may be to buy one 8GB stick and pair it with the existing one, youll typically find better performance (and fewer headaches) buying a 16GB set instead. We stuck with 16GB because its what we had on hand, but you could go higher if youd like.

Dells provided plenty of storage options. In the bottom left corner (if the hinges are facing down) youll see a big, silvery panel attached by a single screw. Lift it, and you can install a standard 2.5-inch HDD or SSD. Hard drives are pretty cheap nowadays, offering massive amounts of storage spaceassuming you dont care about speed.

Those with a bit more spending money can add a second M.2 SSDor replace the existing SSD, or replace and add. Youve got a lot of options here.

Adding an M.2 drive is the most straightforward, though spotting the M.2 slot is hard at first. With the hinges facing down, look to the right of the RAM enclosure and youll see a little black stripeand a screw two inches farther to the right. Remove that screw, insert the M.2 drive into the port, press it down, and then put the screw back in. Thats it. Youre done.

This is what youre looking for. Notice the M.2 label on the motherboard.

All secured! Easy.

Replacing the existing drive is a bit more complicated because Dell uses an M.2 2230-size SSD. This is quite a bit smaller than the usual M.2 2280 (or 22mm x 80mm) form factor used by a Samsung 970 Evo, our 1TB Firecuda, and so forth.

The primary drive is also semi-hidden underneath a thermal panelthough proximity to the empty 2.5-inch enclosure means you might mistake it as the place for your secondary drive. (I did.)

It looks like this when closed up.

Unscrew this tiny piece of metal, then unscrew the primary drive and remove it. Once its out, youll see a tiny metal brace set to the 2230 marker. Remove that as well, swivel it, and then slot it into the clips for the 2280 setting (assuming youre using a standard M.2 drive). And then...put it all back together.

Remove the default M.2 2230 form factor drive.

Next, look for this metal clip thats in the 2230 position...

...turn it around and reinsert it at the 2280 position for most off-the-shelf M.2 drives.

This approach is also more complicated because youve removed the C: drive. Before upgrading, youll need to navigate to Dells website and download the Dell OS Recovery Tool, then put it on a 16GB USB stick. Plug this drive in when you boot the machine for the first time, and youll be walked through Dells custom Windows 10 installation. An OEM Windows installer will not work.

Once youre done mucking around inside, lay the bottom panel back on the laptops gutschecking the orientation, of course. Secure the captive screws first, then press the keyboard layer and bottom panel back together. The area around the trackpad is tricky, and you may need to use your spudger to wedge the whole thing apart and try again. Youll probably need to push harder than you think for everything to snap into place.

These angled screws are a bit of a pain. A magnetic screwdriver helps with this step.

Once thats done, find your coffee cup of screws and replace them as well. Assuming you didnt replace the OS drive, Dell will run a quick check on your memory to make sure everything looks good.

Fingers crossed.

Its (at least in my experience) pretty hard to seat RAM improperly in a laptop and still get it to close, so barring a malfunctioning stick you should be good to go.

So...should you do it? Is it worth it?

Upgrading the Inspiron 15 7000 was easier than I anticipated. No special tools (except a guitar pick), no hidden tricks. Its not the only laptop to make it this easy, but its one of the few that does so while staying relatively thin and lightweight. Usually this level of access is reserved for larger gaming laptops with more room inside.

The thinner you get, the harder it is for manufacturers to lay out the components while keeping them accessible. Considering all that, the Inspiron 15 7000 is pretty impressive. Its very clean inside, and I could get the bottom panel off, the parts replaced, and everything screwed back together in under 10 minutes, easy. Maybe five minutes, if I rushed.

There are obvious benefitsparticularly when it comes to storage. When you need more space, you really need it, and the Inspiron 15 7000 makes it easy. While its included 512GB is a respectable amount of storage, its hardly impossible to fill. Throw in a 2TB 2.5-inch drive or another M.2, and youll have plenty of space to expand.

Having more memory is just generally usefulas is filling out that second DIMM. Your PC can only read and write so much information to memory at a time. Two DIMMS means effectively double the bandwidth, especially with a Core i7-9750H that can take advantage. Check out the results we saw when we ran the Inspiron 15 7000 through GeekBench 4:

Thats a huge bandwidth increase, most of it resulting from adding a second stick of RAM. You probably wont notice the additional speed, but it will make the Inspiron 15 7000 a little bit more responsive across the board.

For instance, when we ran our usual HandBrake test, encoding a 30GB MKV file down to the Android Tablet preset, our upgraded Inspiron 15 7000 finished the task approximately a minute faster than the default hardware.

The same pattern played out in Cinebench, which tests the CPU over a much shorter period of time:

The trend repeated in 3DMark, where we used the Sky Diver benchmark to simulate some basic gaming performance, as well as some real-world testing with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive at 720p, where the performance bump from a memory increase could better come into play. Across the board, our in-house upgrades performed better than the stock Inspiron 15 7000.

Now, was it much better? No, and I think the performance benefits are probably secondary to the more tangible benefits. Adding another M.2 drive is better first and foremost because you have more space to store your files. Moving to 16GB of RAM allows you to open more Chrome tabs or run games that require 16GB of memory. Thats more important than any day-to-day speed increase.

One final note: Dell specifically asked us to explore the benefits of installing the second drive as a RAID 0 array instead of a separate drive. RAID 0 links two (or more) drives into one massive storage space, and in theory can improve performance. I typically dont bother with RAID, though, because the speed increase is offset by the risk. If one drive in the array fails, the entire array fails, and you can lose all your data.

Still, we tried itand if youre sticking with the default Dell-provided drive, I wouldnt recommend it. As youll see in the charts above, our benchmarks actually came in lower (for the most part) when we set up RAID 0 compared to running programs directly off our newly-installed secondary M.2 drive. The Firecudas speed dragged the average up, meaning the OS and anything else installed only to the C: drive probably performed better. Anything we couldve installed directly to the secondary drive? It all performed worse, as a consequence of being split across the slower Dell drive and the faster Firecuda.

If you install two zippy new M.2 drives, RAID 0 might net a slight speed increase. Otherwise, if youre just adding a secondary drive, its probably better to take full advantage of your faster M.2 speeds when needed, and leave the original drive to handle the OS and anything thats less sensitive.

I hope laptopsespecially gaming laptopscontinue to trend toward upgradability. One of the biggest problems with gaming laptops (compared to their desktop counterparts) is they tend to last only three or four years before theyre irrelevant. Maybe five if you dont mind dipping settings. Thats while costing two to three times as much as comparable desktop hardware.

But if you could get in there and replace some of the parts, you could potentially add another few years of use. RAM and storage are a good start, and Dells made it such upgrades easy.

What we really need are CPU and GPU upgrades, though. Thats trickier, but imagine buying an Inspiron 15 7000 and then being able to swap out the already-dated GTX 1050 for a top-shelf part. Thats the dream. Maybe one day.

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Is upgrading a laptop's SSD and RAM worth it? We try it in the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 - PCWorld

A developer has submitted plans to convert a former monastery and college building in the West End into luxury homes.

Adam Scotland has just lodged plans for 10 Partickhill Road with Glasgows planning committee.

St Kentigerns Hostel, formerly Wellpark House and St Peters College, is a category B listed building.

St Kentigerns Hostel on Partickhill Road is earmarked for four new homes. Image: NVDC Architects

Papers set out external alterations including site works, replacement or refurbished windows and new grilles/flues to the rear of the property.

The proposal is to create four spacious three-bedroom apartments with appropriate amenity space and parking.

NVDC Architects say the building was most recently run by the Marist Brothers and is situated within the Glasgow West Conservation Area.

A report says the building is generally in good condition externally apart from some poor concrete repairs to the rear elevation.

But some of the sash and case windows are in a state of disrepair.

Adam Scotland is to undertake a survey to see how many windows can be retained and how many will need to be replaced.

City officials have already indicated their general support for the conversion of the property into homes.

Map: St Kentigerns Hostel on Partickhill Road. Google/NVDC Architects

They stipulate that car parking requirements are for one space per flat and one visitor parking space.

Officials point out that all the trees on the site are protected.

In pre-application correspondence they said: Landscaping proposals will be required and should demonstrate how the development will enhance biodiversity.

Architects say trees will be retained and new planting will take place to enhance the existing building and surrounding conservation area.

According to its Wikipedia listing, St Kentigerns Hostel is a Jacobean-style building, constructed around 1869.

The entry says: In 1874, the building became St Peters College, a seminary for men training to become Roman Catholic priests.

In 1877, a small wooden chapel was built behind the house. In 1892, the college was moved to Bearsden.

Wikipedia adds: In 1906, the Archdiocese of Glasgow turned the building into a St Kentigerns Hostel, a residence for students at nearby teacher training college.

It was run by the Marist Brothers. From 1954 to 1956, the interior of the house was renovated by Gillespie, Kidd & Coia.

In the 1960s it was a residence for students at the Notre Dame College of Education in Bearsden.

In 1991, flats were built within the grounds of St Kentigerns, behind the house.

The application will be decided for approval or refusal at a later date.

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NEWS: Plans to convert former West End monastery into luxury homes - Glasgow West End Today

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been linked with a move from Arsenal this summer.

The forward will have just a year left on his contract and the Gunners will face the tough choice of cashing in now or letting him leave for free in 2021.

Getty - Contributor

Aubameyang has been a great success with the north London club since his 56million move in 2018.

He has scored 61 goals in 97 games for Arsenal and won the Premier League Golden Boot last season, shared with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

The 30-year-old has been linked with moves to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United. Man City have also been backed to make a move for the Gabon international.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was already hoping to make several additions to his team over the summer but now may need to replace his star striker.

Reports suggested he wanted to strengthen the spine of his team with a new centre-back, defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder.

There may be some tough choices ahead over who needs to be axed and what positions to prioritise, particularly with the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Arteta told Sky Sports: Im planning two or three different scenarios that we can face. Depending on one of those three, we will be able to do more, less or nothing.

We have to react daily. We dont know what the financial situation is going to be, we dont know the rules, the timing window. There are so many things we cannot control at the moment.

Getty Images - Getty

Here at talkSPORT.com, we have taken a look at who Arsenal could sign as replacements in the summer.

Arsenal are thought to be considering a move for the Celtic striker in the summer, according to French publication Le10 Sport.

The 22-year-old has scored 28 goals in all competitions this season and is thought to be valued at around 35m.

Edouard has played as the central striker for Celtic, a role mainly filled by Alexandre Lacazette this season.

Lacazette has struggled for goals and even lost his place in the side to Eddie Nketiah.

Artetas preference appears to be to sell the French forward but they could look to get rid Lacazette and Aubameyang to have a fresh start.

Getty Images - Getty

Arsenal signed youngsters Gabriel Martinelli and Nicolas Pepe last summer and look to be real talents for the future.

If Edouard was signed he could play as the main striker with Martinelli, Ozil and Pepe in the attacking midfield roles behind him.

Arsenal have shown particular interest in Partey in recent weeks and months with Atletico Madrid doing all they can to convince him to stay.

Various reports suggest he has a 43.6m release clause in his contract but the LaLiga are said to be willing to double his wages in a bid to fend of interest.

Partey has made no secret of his desire to one day play in the Premier League.

Getty Images - Getty

He told KweseESPN in 2018: At the moment, I am happy at my club. But in football, you never know when and where youll be in the next day or year.

The Premier League is a good league, its very competitive and has some of the best players in the world. Hopefully, one day. I would like to play there.

Parteys addition would certain be an upgrade in the defensive midfield area where Artetas current options are Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira.

Buildlineup.com

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How Arsenal could line-up next season with Edouard as Aubameyang linked to Manchester United and Barcelona, - talkSPORT.com

Construction of the 31-floor Kompassi residential tower in Helsinki Kalasatama, Finland has begun. This is after developer SRV Group signed a contract agreement with Kojamo for the construction to begin.

The rental apartment building project which is part of US $213.4m cooperation agreement with Kojamo, was recorded in SRVs order backlog in the second quarter of 2020.

The apartments, altogether 291 units, are mainly studios and two-room apartments. The construction will start immediately and the project will be completed in 2022.

Also Read: 270-unit high-rise apartment to be developed in Dallas, US

According to SRV Group Plc President and CEO, Saku Sipola, Kompassi is a good example of a project, where there are strong customers and which do not significantly tie up SRVs capital. When implemented as planned Kompassi will release approximately EUR 22 million from the companys balance sheet during year 2020. I am delighted to see that with our recovery programme our customers trust us and we have been able to start several new projects this year, he said.

Kim Jolkkonen, Senior Vice President, Housing at SRV said that with the companys long-term cooperation with Kojamo, they respond to housing demand in growth centres. Kompassi, which construction now begins, will have excellent location in the vicinity of good transport connections, said the VP.

SRV Group Plc and Kojamo Plc signed a cooperation agreement on 2nd March 2020 on construction of rental apartments valued at US $213.4m in Helsinki and Espoo. The contract includes a total of six residential development projects, with a total of 676 residential units. The contract includes Kompassi, which will rise 120 meters high.

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Construction of 31-floor Kompassi residential tower in Helsinki, Finland begins - Construction Review

Construction of a new Target on 82nd Street in Elmhurst was still going on during the coronavirus epidemic, April 22, 2020. Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Need to know more about coronavirus in New York? Sign up for THE CITYsdaily morning newsletter.

The list of essential construction projects and permitted work has ballooned sixfold since Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a virtual construction shutdown last month, Department of Buildings data shows.

Some 4,936 job sites are now allowed to be worked on, up from about 800 on April 3, according to the Buildings Department.

Among them: hotels in Manhattan and Brooklyn, a new Queens Target, and, as the Columbia Spectator first reported, the future home of Columbia Universitys business school.

The greenlighted projects also include renovation work on rental buildings under an exception for a sole worker, raising concerns for tenants.

Under a revision of its original shutdown guidance, the state has expanded essential building work beyond primarily infrastructure projects, hospitals and affordable housing.

As long as ground already has been broken, construction now can also proceed on any type of business thats allowed to continue in-person operations during the states coronavirus-driven pause.

That broader list includes hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, banks, appliance stores and storage facilities, among other businesses. Public and private school construction is also permitted.

One worker on a Manhattan hotel project fumed, saying his bosses were treating the pandemic like a joke.

To make the hotel essential, they might as well open every job, because that hotel is far from essential, he said. That hotel is deemed essential while we are deemed expendable.

The citys rules for essential business construction appear somewhat narrower than the states.

Work on essential businesses can proceed only if it pertains to alterations of existing buildings and has been permitted by the department prior to April 15, 2020, the city guidance says.

DOB notes that the vast majority of the 35,000 sites that were ordered shuttered in March are still closed. But some local residents say theyve been shocked to see work going forward on a wide-ranging set of long-term projects while the pandemic still claims hundreds of lives per day.

The far-from-complete Target site in Elmhurst, also slated to contain a Starbucks and a Chipotle, will eventually house some type of ambulatory diagnostic treatment or healthcare facilities above the 23,000-square-foot big box store, city filings show. So the Department of Buildings is allowing construction to continue.

Patricia Chou, a member of the grassroots community group Queens Neighborhoods United, which has long opposed the development, said that while a medical office may be in the offing, the core of the planned facility is still a shopping center.

Our primary concerns are that they are endangering workers at the site and exploiting loopholes to complete this project, she said.

A rendering of the planned Target in Elmhurst Photo: Courtesy of Target

The construction work takes up space on 82nd Street and Baxter Street, which are routes to the emergency department entrance of coronavirus-slammed Elmhurst Hospital, Chou noted.

Renovations also go on at residential buildings, under the exception that allows one-person jobs.

One resident at an Upper East Side rental building said his landlords continued remodeling work on apartments puts his family and other tenants, many of them elderly, at risk for a less-than-pressing reason.

Unless its a hot water issue or a heating plumbing issue, this is not the time to have any extraneous people in the building, said the resident, who didnt want his name published for fear of retaliation by his landlord.

Delivery people may not enter the buildings elevators, but construction workers do. Meanwhile, the buildings doorman is currently fighting for his life on a ventilator, the tenant said.

Every time I take an elevator down to the basement and I run across a construction worker, thats a potential interaction that I do not need to be having, he said.

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Construction Exceptions Keep Many NYC Building Sites Open - THE CITY

YIT Corporation Investor News April 23, 2020, at 08:00 a.m.

YIT started residential apartment building projects in Finland, the CEE countries and Russia in January-March

YIT started several apartment building projects in January-March. The company took a cautious approach towards starting projects for consumers due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, lots of projects were started for investors.

In Finland, the projects started will comprise more than 590 apartments in total with a total value of over EUR 110 million.

Furthermore, the company announced on April 8, 2020, that it had agreed to build more than 210 apartments for OP funds.

In the CEE countries, the company started the construction of over 160 apartments with a total value of over EUR 23 million.

In Russia, YIT started the construction of four locations, comprising more than 900 apartments with a total value of approximately EUR 48 million.

The projects are located at central locations in growth centres and will mainly be completed in the spring and summer 2021. The start-ups of the apartments are booked in the order backlog of the first quarter of the year.

YIT CORPORATION

Tommi Jrvenp

Vice President, Investor Relations

YIT is the largest Finnish and significant North European construction company. We develop and build apartments and living services, business premises and entire areas. We are also specialised in demanding infrastructure construction. Together with our customers, our nearly 8,000 professionals are creating more functional, attractive and sustainable cities and environments. We operate in 10 countries: Finland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. Our revenue in 2019 was approximately EUR 3.4 billion. YIT Corporation's share is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy. http://www.yitgroup.com

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YIT : started residential apartment building projects in Finland, the CEE countries and Russia in JanuaryMarch - Marketscreener.com

Peritus Entreprenr AS, part of AS Merko Ehitus group, and Haakon VIIs gt 5 Holding AS have entered into a contract for the reconstruction of an office building located at Haakon VIIs 5 in Oslos Vika district.

The contract includes reconstruction and upgrading to WeWork shared workplace concept of the first three floors and partially the fourth floor of an existing office building.

The contract value is approximately NOK 50 million (EUR 4.3 million), plus value added tax. The works will be performed from April until October 2020.

Peritus Entreprenr AS(peritus-entreprenor.no) is a Norwegian construction company, which provides construction services in general construction.

Additional information: Peritus Entreprenr AS, CEO Arne Austad, tel. +47 4738 8380.

Priit RoosimgiHead of Group Finance UnitAS Merko Ehitus+372 650 1250priit.roosimagi@merko.ee

AS Merko Ehitus(group.merko.ee) group consists of AS Merko Ehitus Eesti in Estonia, SIA Merks in Latvia, UAB Merko Statyba in Lithuania and Peritus Entreprenr AS in Norway. Besides providing construction service as a main contractor, the groups other major area of activity is apartment development. As at the end of 2019, the group employed 694 people, and the groups revenue for 2019 was EUR 327 million.

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Construction contract in Norway (office building in Oslo) - Yahoo Finance

Thanks to COVID-19, the City Market development might never happen

With the COVID-19 crisis and worries of permanent damage to the economy, Capitol Hill might have a new lost generation of neighborhood developments swallowed up by a possible economic abyss. In areas around the Hill that have gone through such thorough waves of redevelopment, any slowdown might offer a respite. Heres a look at what is on hold and what might never be as the Seattle City Council will vote Monday afternoon on Mayor Jenny Durkans plan to streamline design review and the landmarks process to ensure our city work and projects move forward in a responsible way that keeps everyone safe and healthy.

Durkans proposal would temporarily allow the Seattle Department of Construction andInspections and the Department of Neighborhoods to administratively make somedecisions that would otherwise be made or informed by an in-person board or committeemeetings. In the case of processes like design review, the goal would be to eventually establish virtual meetings.

On Capitol Hill 2020, most major construction is currently only hold due to COVID-19 restrictions including hundreds of new apartments above Capitol Hill Station. Those new developments are nearly complete and likely will open later this year despite any larger economic devastation.

But several more are set to be stuck in a COVID-19 limbo with delays and, for some, full on cancellations.

READY FOR REVIEW

PLANNED

READY TO BUILD OR NEARLY COMPLETE?

Theres no roadmap for how we need to reinvent city government, but as we navigate this public health crisis, we have to turn to unconventional ways to ensure our City work and projects move forward in a responsible way that keeps everyone safe and healthy, Durkan said of her push to streamline the citys development pipeline through the crisis. Our boards and commissions are essential to development in our City and by making these administrative changes, we will be able to fulfill regulatory milestones, keeping us on track to support businesses and develop the housing we desperately need.

Industry proponents say the changes are necessary to not hold up some 28 developments across the city in a stage of the design review process that requires a public meeting and another 35 approaching that milestone. Critics worry that the city will rubber stamp approvals and take a pro-developer position when it comes to decisions like landmarks protections. Others point at decisions like this over an issue with the color of a Capitol Hill buildings siding as proof the processes needed an overhaul prior to COVID-19. The city has been working to revamp design review and find more effective ways for neighbors and the community to weigh in on development plans.

City council members have a full roster of possible amendments to the legislation to be voted on Monday but none of them will be powerful enough to overcome a longterm economic downturn.

The global economic slowdown of the late 2000s left many plans across Seattle and Capitol HIll on the drawing board. On 19th Ave E, an example of one of those developments that went unbuilt left room for a neighborhood favorite to thrive. Elsewhere, like the Key Bank property on 15th Ave E where a planned development also ended up mothballed, the lost development feels more like a lost opportunity.

Many if not most of the above projects across Capitol Hill, the Central District, and First Hill will see the light of day. But any significant economic downturn will mean some of these plans end up on hold forever with or without changes to the Seattle design review and landmarks process.

HELP CHS COVER THE COVID-19 CRISIS -- SUBSCRIBE TODAY: Support local journalism dedicated to your neighborhood.SUBSCRIBE HERE. Jointo become a subscriber at$1/$5/$10 a monthto help CHS provide community news withNO PAYWALL. You can also sign up fora one-time annual payment. HELP TELL THE LOCAL STORY --More here.

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As Seattle looks at temporary takeover of citizen design review, here are the projects around Capitol Hill in COVID-19 limbo - CHS Capitol Hill...

Most of the 18th and 19th century buildings in Moscow underwent crude renovation at some point. This work continued until the beginning of this century and has left an unfortunate mark on the citys architecture.

For an architecture-loving tourist, walking around old Moscow can be quite a shocking experience. One minute find yourself admiring the exquisite facade of an old building in the baroque, empire or classicism style, and the next you raise your head and see a characterless monstrosity perched on top of the original building, increasing its height by a couple of additional stories. And no, sadly this is not a mirage.

It is widely believed that a significant portion of the pre-revolutionary buildings in Moscow were destroyed in war or demolished as part of Stalin's1935 master plan for the city's renovation. While this is partly true, an even larger number of historical buildings were lost as a result of numerous rebuilding and renovation projects. This is why many of the citys surviving 18 and 19th century buildings have a radically changed in appearance, becoming monuments to the bizarre transformations of Russian history.

In the majority of cases, the reconstruction of old aristocratic and merchant mansions, as well as tenement buildings, was necessary in order to modernize and adapt them to new functions. The first wave of these renovations took place in the 1920-1930s, when the newly established Soviet authorities urgently needed to resolve a housing shortage. They began putting additional stories on three- and four-story buildings that usually housed dormitories or administrative offices. One- and two-story mansions almost always had attics, and these were usually converted into communal apartments by crudely dividing spacious halls decorated with stucco moldings and frescoes with partitions. The architects who undertook those renovation projects were seldom concerned with preserving the building's original style. In fact, the opposite was true.

Smolensky Boulevard, 10.

One example of this efficiency drive in urban planning is a quaint building designed by Peter Lavinon Smolensky Boulevard, 10. This three-story building in the classical style with carved plat bands and a decorative stone faade was built in 1892 as an apartment building for several families. During an acute shortage of housing in the 1930s, a two-story constructivist addition was built above it and the building was converted into communal apartments. The result is a hybrid building that is characteristic of Moscow's urban development at the turn of the century, which is defined by a grotesque contrast between classical and avant-garde architecture.

Golitsyns' mansion, Volkhonka

A similar modernization befell the Golitsyns' mansion in Volkhonka, which now belongs to the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. The two-story mansion a fine example of Moscow classical architecture was rebuilt in the late 1920s. The buildings austere facade was changed, and it lost a pediment that adorned the central portico. In addition, the building had two attic floors added to it, which for a long time housed the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Philosophy. It should be noted however that, unlike the tenement building on Smolensky Boulevard, this extension was executed in a style that was consistent with the original building.

Mansion of the Lukutins.

This barbaric approach remained a part of Moscows urban planning until the end of the 20th century. For example, the mansion of the Lukutin merchant family (art patrons who backed the production of the famous Fedoskino caskets) on Vishnyakovsky Lane, 23 was built in the 18th century. In 1910, the owners ordered another floor to be added to the three-story mansion with the idea of turning the mansion into an apartment building. The final loss of the building's historical appearance took place in the 1980s, when two more floors were added to it. As a result, what was once a classical style mansion was transformed into another faceless specimen of Soviet architecture.

One of the last victims of Soviet architects was the Zavarzina tenement building on Lyalin Lane, 14. Over 80 years after its construction in 1907, the art nouveau building had two additional stories added to it in order to house residential apartments.

The collapse of the USSR did not yet spell the end to Moscows architectural tragedy. A second wave of renovations of pre-revolutionary buildings took place in the 1990s and early 2000s, when private investors bought up historical mansions for peanuts and added attic floors to them, often to house offices because at the time Moscow had a severe shortage of modern business centers.

Malaya Dmitrovka 20.

One particularly sad symbols of the new era in urban development was the reconstruction of a two-story mansion in Malaya Dmitrovka 20, which once belonged to the poet Aleksey Pleshcheyev. In 1999, the city government handed it over to a private investor, and the building was dismantled up to its front wall and incorporated into a high-tech business center.

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How the USSR disfigured historical buildings in the name of progress - Russia Beyond

Some changes might be made to a planned redevelopment project in the Virginia Square area.

The Arlington County Board is set to consider a request to add 15 apartment units to the 7-story building approved by the Board last June. The project, which has yet to start major construction, will replace a State Farm insurance office and other small commercial buildings near the corner of Washington Blvd and N. Kirkwood Road.

The developer says it can squeeze in the additional apartments by reconfiguring the courtyard and parking garage, and making some minor changes to the building facade and rooftop area.

While the height, building footprint and massing remain unchanged, approximately 8,649 square feet of gross floor area (GFA) will be added as a result of a minor reduction of the internal courtyard and more efficient use of space previously allocated to parking and mechanical uses, a county staff report says.

In exchange for adding the new apartments, the developer has agreed to designate four additional units as committed affordable housing. The plan has critics, however, notably residents of the townhouses across the street.

Issues raised by members of the community, including the Bromptons at Clarendon Homeowners Association (HOA), include concerns around additional density, increased parking demand on local streets, reduction of on-site greenspace and the design of the corner faade, said the staff report.

County staffers are recommending approval of the site plan amendment. The Board is expected to take up the request at its upcoming Saturday meeting.

More from the staff report, below.

The applicant is requesting a site plan amendment to make interior and exterior modifications to accommodate an additional 15 dwelling units, a revised parking garage layout, minor changes to the building faade and changes to the rooftop area. While the height, building footprint and massing remain unchanged, approximately 8,649 square feet of GFA will be added as a result of a minor reduction of the internal courtyard (from approximately 8,000 square feet to approximately 7,380 square feet) and more efficient use of space previously allocated to parking and mechanical uses (Figure 4). To further accommodate the additional 15 units, the average unit size based on total GFA will decrease from 1,021 square feet to 994 square feet. The number of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units will all increase, with the number of studios remaining the same.

The applicant is proposing a revised parking garage layout with changes to both below-grade parking levels and ramps. The parking garage entrance will remain in the same location but will be reoriented with a maximum slope of 20%. While the total number of parking spaces (including tandem spaces) for the site is reduced from 198 spaces to 194 spaces, all 20 tandem spaces will be converted to non-tandem spaces. The number of parking spaces increases from 63 to 99 spaces on garage Level 02 and decreases from 135 to 95 on garage Level 01. Overall, the parking ratio increases from 0.64 spaces to 0.67 spaces per unit, not including visitor spaces. The visitor parking ratio remains at 0.05 spaces per unit. The site will also accommodate 114 bicycle spaces at the same bicycle parking ratio as previously approved.

To accommodate the new units on the ground floor along the north and west alleys, there will be changes to the faade including replacing the louvers and mechanical vents that previously served the parking garage ramp with new windows (Figures 5, 6, 7, 8). The applicant is also proposing minor modifications to the layout of the rooftop amenity space and decreasing the size from approximately 920 square feet to approximately 850 square feet.

Continued here:
Developer Seeking Permission to Add 15 Apartments to Va. Square Project - ARLnow