Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

london-based practice, featherstone young, has designed a house to blend into its idyllic countryside location in rural england. built for a pair of retired doctors, the new residence is situated at the edge of a village in rutland. developed as two wings, the scheme provides a sizeable accommodation that is also sympathetic to its surroundings.

all images courtesy of featherstone young

built over 3735 ft2 (347 m2), the house is arranged by featherstone young into two wings that effectively divide the functions of the program. upon entering through a central courtyard space, residents arrive into the open plan kitchen and dining area, which connects to the main living room and a smaller TV room. within these spaces, timber dominates the interior to create a warm atmosphere. furthermore, the timber cladding follows the folded profile of the roof, which gently rises and spirals until it reaches the double height living space and glazed south-facing elevation.

accommodationfor visiting guests is housed in the smaller wing. the design of these two volumes not only creates a subtle divide between the main house and guest bedrooms, but also contributes to establishing energy efficiency as only the main wing is heated for day-to-day living and the second guest wing is opened up when family and friends come to stay.

to blend into the landscape, the volumes are designed by featherstone young with sweeping green roofs that appear almost to grow from the site. the project also utilizes local materials to root the building into its context, such as the large dry stonewall that uses local clipsham stone.

project info:

project name: stonecrop

type: residential

location: rutland, england, the UK

architect: featherstone young

client: private

built area: 3735 ft2 (347 m2)

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featherstone young builds a house with folding green roofs in rural england - Designboom

After spending so much time in your home, it might be time to escape to a new location.

People can now virtually step inside homes designed by America's most famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright.

From frat houses in Gainesville, Florida, to museums in New York City, Frank Lloyd Wright designed over 1,000 buildings.

Only a few of them are open to the public through in-person tours. But now, in a partnership between the Frank Lloyd Wright FoundationandUnity Temple Restoration Foundation, you can visit 12 of the buildings virtually.

Every Thursday, a representative stationed at one of Wright's buildings will take viewers on a tour of a new building. The videos will be livestreamed and saved on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation'swebsite.

The tours will last until mid-May and include some of his most famous works likeTaliesin West.

Taliesin West is a UNESCO World Heritage site in the deserts of Arizona. The building served as Wright's winter home and "desert laboratory."

Or visit Fallingwater, a home sitting over waterfalls and tucked inside southwest Pennsylvania's forests.

Fallingwater is considered one of Wright's most famous works and attracts over 100,000 visitors every year. Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo

"It is precisely at this time, when so many are shut inside, that we need to experience beauty and inspiration. Wright's works bring people together in harmony with the natural world, reminding us that we are all connected, even when we're apart," Barbara Gordon, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy's executive director, wrote in a statement.

While the Frank Lloyd Wright buildings remain closed, the conservancy is hoping the virtual visits will spark new followers, members, and supporters of Wright's work.

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You can virtually visit some of the country's most famous buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright - Insider - INSIDER

Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune/TNS Heading southbound on Lake Shore Drive through Grant Park in Chicago on Monday.

With the coronavirus pandemic dragging on and people looking for something (anything!) to relieve the boredom of being stuck at home, I have a modest proposal: Revive the drive the Sunday Drive.

Those of a certain age will remember the Sunday Drive. It was a secular ritual a leisurely car trip with no particular destination, often taken in the afternoon by a family in a wood-paneled station wagon. Such excursions might go through farm fields, to the nearest Dairy Queen, or along a sylvan route lined with money-dripping mansions, like the North Shores Sheridan Road.

Today, with roads of all sorts practically empty, the Sunday Drive beckons anew. After all, its easy to maintain social distancing when youre in a pod of steel. Also, you dont need to wear a mask. And so, instead of going out for a stroll or binge-watching shows on Netflix (or maybe in addition to those things), some people are taking to the road.

My husband and I are reinventing the Sunday afternoon family car ride I used to take with my family in the late 1940s (and) early 1950s, when we lived in San Francisco, Mary Ann Irvine of Oak Park wrote to me in a recent email. With little traffic on the streets," she added, "its easy to drive slowly and stop often to see architectural gems by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright.

I think Mary Anns on to something. So why not head down (or up) Lake Shore Drive, taking in Chicagos skyline cliffs on one side and the blue expanse of Lake Michigan on the other? Preferably, youll have Aliotta Haynes Jeremiahs 1971 song Lake Shore Drive (And there aint no road just like it / Anywhere I found) blasting in the background.

Or try Chicagos historic boulevards, a 26-mile chain of parks and boulevards that courses through the citys North, West and South Sides. Another suggestion: west suburban Riversides Longcommon Road, a park-lined drive designed by the great landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.

Surely you have favorites of your own.

Such trips, it appears, are permitted under Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order, which allows people to drive on both local roads and interstate highways. Judging by the number of car parades that have popped up to celebrate birthdays and other milestones, the authorities arent cracking down on pleasure driving.

Just dont take advantage of the open road and go 100 m.p.h. down an expressway. Thats the antithesis of the slow, relaxing Sunday Drive.

Building on the precedent of the high-society, horse-drawn carriages that rolled down elegant boulevards in the late 19th century, the Sunday Drive is thought to have originated in the 1920s just a few years after the great influenza epidemic of 1918 that killed at least 50 million people worldwide.

Maybe people wanted to get out into the fresh air, which was thought to improve health. More likely, they just wanted to take their new plaything the car out into the country to escape the crowded cities and towns in which they lived.

Henry Ford, whose mass production methods made cars available to millions, is said to have supported the Sunday Drive because it helped to sell cars.

Indeed, if you Google Sunday Drive and Model T, youll see old black-and-white photos that show families decked out in their Sunday best, the tops of their cars folded down to bring them in the open air. Some journeyed to the countryside for a picnic, their cars sputtered along primitive dirt roads.

Once, a weekend trip to the countryside was a privilege of the wealthy. Widespread car ownership and new roads, tellingly dubbed parkways opened up these pleasures to the middle class.

The very name parkway suggests how such roads differ from the concrete gashes of urban expressways that would be built after World War II: Theyre free of trucks, flanked by park-like expanses of grass and trees, and have relatively low speed limits. Some, like Connecticuts Merritt Parkway, built in the 1930s, are straddled by beautiful bridges that carry local traffic over them.

The popularity of the Sunday Drive reached its apex in the 1950s and 1960s, when cars were still associated with personal freedom, not air pollution or suburban sprawl.

But something changed in the 1970s. Perhaps it was rising gas prices or a heightened environmental consciousness. Or maybe, some urban planners think, suburban sprawl was blurring the once-clear boundary between town and country. Where once there were farm fields and expanses of nature, now there were strip malls and traffic-jammed arterial roads. That made the Sunday Drive a lot less alluring

In the early 20th century, departments of motor vehicles classified (cars) as pleasure vehicles," Julie Campoli, a Burlington, Vermont urban designer and author, noted in a 2014 blog post Bring Back the Sunday Drive.

Now, Campoli observed, cars "are officially known as 'passenger vehicles a more accurate term, since most of the pleasure has drained out of the experience of driving. After a week of sitting behind the wheel, idling and turning, dropping off and picking up, 21st century Americans might find it difficult to imagine loading the family into the car on a Sunday afternoon and heading out for a drive just for the fun of it.

Advocates of pedestrian-friendly cities and mass transit may be shocked to hear me championing the Sunday Drive. But while car use is declining, millions of Americans still rely on four wheels to get around. And in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Sunday Drive stands ready as a relief valve for those bottled up in their homes, especially older people who are unable to go out for long walks.

So, go! A Sunday Drive might make you feel better, just like a walk does. As a bonus, you might appreciate the beauty of your city or suburb in fresh ways

Just two cautionary notes: Keep your eyes on the road and dont get out of your car and congregate, especially if youre in Chicago. If you do, the Queen of Keeping Apart, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, may personally come after you.

Blair Kamin is a Tribune critic.

bkamin@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @BlairKamin

2020 the Chicago Tribune

Visit the Chicago Tribune at http://www.chicagotribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Column: Revive the Sunday Drive suddenly it's once again a great way to escape home and see your city - MSN

Since the 1950s, vinyl has been a popular choice for homeowners looking for a cost-efficient, low-maintenance, and durable flooring option. And now with vinyl choices no longer limited to six-foot to 12-foot sheets -- and a lot of new looks -- that popularity just continues to endure.

For those looking for a tiled look, vinyl tiles may be a good option because they look like ceramic tiles but cost significantly less than their ceramic counterparts and are easier to install. Similarly, vinyl flooring is also now available in wood-like planks, which may be more resistant to damage and less expensive than hardwood floors.

But while vinyl is known for being economical and hard to damage, it may not be the right choice for every home or every project. So let's discuss the pros and cons of vinyl flooring before you start tearing up all the carpet and tile in your own home.

One of the biggest considerations for any project is cost. That's a big win for vinyl.

According to HomeAdvisor (NASDAQ: ANGI), vinyl flooring usually costs between $0.50 and $5 per square foot. Compare that to tile and wood, which can cost up to around $15 per square foot, and carpet, which can cost up to $7 per square foot, and the savings can really add up.

Vinyl flooring used to only be available in large sheets that were difficult to work with. Today's vinyl flooring usually comes in tiles or planks, which are easier to work with and often can be installed without using a saw or having to hammer the planks in place. Some vinyl tiling is even available as self-stick, meaning you can install it by peeling the backing and sticking it to the floor.

Vinyl flooring holds up to heavy use and also reduces noise compared to some other options, making it a great choice for homeowners with pets and/or kids. Vinyl flooring also holds up well to moisture, unlike carpet and wood flooring, which makes vinyl a great choice for bathrooms, kitchens, mud rooms, and laundry rooms.

While vinyl flooring may be easier to install than other flooring options, it can also be more difficult to remove. The reason for this is because vinyl flooring is glued down, and once that glue is set, it can require a lot of time and energy to remove.

While vinyl flooring holds up well to moisture, it is prone to fading over time in the sun. Vinyl flooring is also more sensitive to extreme hot and cold temperatures. Because of this, as HomeAdvisor points out, vinyl floors may not be the right choice for rooms that get a lot of direct sunlight.

Vinyl flooring is considered a "softer" flooring option, which means that while it is comfortable underfoot, it is prone to gouging by sharp objects, like knives and sharp edges of furniture. Because of this, homeowners need to be careful when moving and placing furniture.

Vinyl flooring has been an affordable and attractive flooring option for homeowners for decades. And with recent advances in options, including vinyl tiles and wood planks, homeowners now have a variety of attractive, durable options for many different rooms.

But before you start tearing up floors, it's important to consider whether vinyl is the right choice for your project. After all, once it's down, it's down.

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Vinyl Flooring: The Good, the Bad, and the No Longer Ugly - Motley Fool

CALHOUN, Ga., Apr. 15 /CSRwire/ - The Edison Awards winners were announced today, and Mohawks Air.o hypoallergenic soft flooring took the bronze for the consumer goods home solutions category.

Being recognized with an Edison Award is an honor and one of the highest accolades a company can receive in the name of innovation and business, said Jamie Welborn, vice president of product management. From the time we rolled out our first carpets to today, weve worked hard to develop revolutionary product innovations. Air.o is not only innovative, its also a solution that no one else can offer consumers. Hypoallergenic soft flooring changes how shoppers think about carpet, and we will continue to build on our successful product line.

Air.os unique, unified construction does not absorb any moisture, inhibiting the growth of allergens such as mold, mildew and dust mites. This construction simplifies the installation process and provides 50 percent more airflow when vacuumed, making it easy to clean by releasing more dust, dirt and pet dander. Air.o is also VOC free and latex-free with no new carpet smell.

When we say Air.o provides pure peace of mind for homeowners, we want this to apply to every aspect, including the design front, explained Angela Duke, director of brand marketing. With our 2020 ColorMax intros, consumers will be blown away that they can have soft flooring thats better for their family with incredible color and blended style to uplift their homes aesthetically.

Air.o recently achieved rigorous Declare Red List-free status certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), as well as a Health Product Declaration (HPD) from the Health Product Declaration Collaborative.

Among the nomination entries comprising the best products, services and businesses in innovation for the year 2020, Air.o was chosen as a winner by a panel of over 3,000 leading business executives from around the world.

After a thorough review, the Edison Awards Judges recognize Air.o as a game-changing innovation standing out among the best new products launched in their category, said Frank Bonafilia, executive director of the Edison Awards.

For more information on Air.o, visitMohawkFlooring.comor speak to your local Mohawk sales representative.

About Mohawk

Mohawk Industries is a leading global flooring manufacturer that creates products to enhance residential and commercial spaces around the world. Mohawks vertically integrated manufacturing and distribution processes provide competitive advantages in the production of carpet, rugs, ceramic tile, laminate, hardwood, stone and vinyl flooring. Our industry-leading innovation has yielded products and technologies that differentiate our brands in the marketplace and satisfy all remodeling and new construction requirements. Our brands are among the most recognized in the industry and include Mohawk, American Olean, Daltile, Durkan, IVC, Karastan, Marazzi, Pergo, Unilin and Quick-Step. During the past decade, Mohawk has transformed its business from an American carpet manufacturer into the worlds largest flooring company with operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, India, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, and the United States.

About the Edison Awards

The Edison Awards is the worlds most revered Innovation Award dedicated to recognizing and honoring the best in innovation and innovators since 1987. For more information about the Edison Awards and a list of past winners, visitwww.edisonawards.com.

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Air.o Wins Edison Award: The Only Hypoallergenic Soft Flooring Available in Market Recognized As Innovation Leader - CSRwire.com

Verizon Fios truck. File photo/Bklyner

Over the past month, internet access has helped New Yorkers maintain a vague semblance of the life we had before we were forced to huddle indefinitely in our own homes, together in our aloneness. Virtual dinner parties and Seders and Skype chats with friends and family have made things feel just the slightest bit less weird, and platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts allow employees to check in with their teams while they work from home. Internet can also be a lifeline for some, allowing people to search for food pantries and coronavirus testing facilities.

Charter is currently offering 60 days of free Spectrum Wi-Fi and broadband access to households with children in K-12 and/or college without an existing broadband subscription. While the company originally denied this service to families with unpaid bills, The City reported, theyve since agreed to waive the bills for New York City families. Optimum, which has also begun offering free service for families with students, has also agreed to waive the bills.

Providers like Verizon have made life difficult for their customers in other ways. Pawel Dlugosz, a former Brooklyn resident whose parents, Jan and Dorota, still live in Greenpoint, said that his parents are living without internet indefinitely due to a mistake on the part of their provider, Verizon Fios.

The company had scheduled a technician to install internet in his parents new apartment, two floors down from the unit where they were previously living. In anticipation of internet being installed in the new apartment, Dlugosz said, the company shut off internet in the old unit a day before the installation was slated to take place, without any notice. Then, they cancelled the appointment with little other than a cursory text message, leaving Jan and Dorota without the ability to email, Skype, or FaceTime their family members, including Dlugosz, who lives in Oakland. The couple were also sharing the account with their neighbors, both of whom work in government, and who rely on internet access for their jobs.

When Dlugosz pursued an explanation for the cancellation, he was told by Verizon that all in-person appointments had been cancelled due to COVID-19. When he asked them to simply turn the internet back on, they informed him that this was impossible because his parents equipment was outdated.

The situation was further compounded by Verizons failure to properly communicate with Dlugosz and his parents, Dlugosz said. Not only did they turn off the internet in the third floor apartment without warning, but they failed to acknowledge the mistake, keeping Dlugosz waiting on the phone for nearly six hours as he attempted to connect with a customer service representative.

Verizon has yet to provide Dlugosz and his parents with any kind of concrete solution, which he finds baffling. How can a major tech corporation not have a contingency plan? he said. All he wants is for Verizon to take ownership of their mistake, and to offer a solution. Theyre just like washing their hands of responsibility, Dlugosz said. The best Verizon has done, he said, is to offer to waive the $99 installation fee when they finally do send technicians out. Dlugosz would prefer that his parents just have their internet turned back on, he said. Self-installation is not an option for his parents, he said, who are not especially tech-savvy and speak limited English.

I just think that depriving internet access to people in their mid-60s for three weeks is just an insane thing, Dlugosz said, referring to the amount of time Verizon told him it may take to begin sending out technicians.

Aviva Sokolow-Shahar, a Park Slope resident who will be moving to Ditmas Park with her husband next week, doesnt expect to have internet anytime soon, either. When she asked Verizon when they could send a technician to install internet in her new apartment, she was told the company wouldnt be sending any technicians out for the foreseeable future. The alternative, self-installation, isnt a possibility in the new apartment, even though the couple are already Verizon customers.

Its a big issue as my husband is a teacher who has to do live classes every day, and we live in a time when its basically impossible to do anything without internet, said Sokolow-Shahar.

Verizon sent the couple a stand-in date for November 2020, and told Sokolow-Shahar that they would be on a priority list when they eventually start sending technicians out. For now, though, Sokolow feels like shes out of options. We dont have a viable solution at the moment, she said.

For Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy resident Stefanie Lewin, interacting with Verizon was a nightmare. She and her partner moved to the neighborhood from Greenpoint on March 21st, and were scheduled to have their internet installed on March 23rd. Verizon proceeded to cancel and reschedule the appointment multiple times via automated text message, Lewin said, without providing any information or recourse. The couple spent hours trying to reach a representative who could tell them how long they would need to wait for a technician to come, she said. Eventually, after more than two weeks of waiting, they gave up.

The lack of internet made working from home extremely challenging for Lewin and her partner, both of whom work for nonprofits, and they were only able to get their internet back when they switched over to Optimum.

Were not halting all service and repair work, said David Weissman, Communications Manager for Verizon, in an email to Bklyner. To reduce the spread of COVID-19 and keep our employees and customers safe, we are making every attempt to perform work without going into homes or small businesses and are limiting installs.

Weissman did not respond to our follow-up question of why, if Verizon was not halting all service and repair work, customers were having their appointments cancelled without warning, and were not given the ability to reschedule.

Charter also claims to be continuing service visits. Our technicians continue to make select service calls to keep our customers and critical service providers connected during the pandemic, Director of Communications for Charter, John Bonomo, informed us through email. Bonomo noted, however, that technicians first attempt to resolve the issue online or over the phone.

Jenn Flores R, a North Brooklyn Resident, had a fairly smooth experience doing self-installation with Spectrum in the midst of the pandemic. They sent a self install kit and were pretty helpful over the phone when I had issues later after installing, Flores R told us over Facebook. Self install kit was pretty self explanatory and convenient.

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During COVID-19, Internet is a Blessing - Unless You Need Verizon - BKLYNER

The house sits at the edge of the Northmoor Country Club, with views to the golf course (the owners first spotted it while golfing), about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago. It is about a mile and a half southeast of Highland Parks business district. Ravinia, the site of an annual music festival and the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is less than a mile away and has its own commuter rail station.

Size: 4,989 square feet

Price per square foot: $300

Indoors: The architects signature use of brick extends to the floors of the foyer and throughout most of the main level. It covers the large great room, with its two walls of glass and gray (formerly dark brown) ceiling. The sellers installed skylights that were part of the original design, added 16 feet of open steel shelving along one wall and sheathed the brick fireplace in stainless steel plate to lighten the room.

The kitchen was professionally remodeled with white cabinets, smoothly integrated storage (a coffee bar sits behind one wall panel) and stainless steel surfaces and appliances, including a Wolf range. Pocket doors close off the space from the dining room, as needed.

The owners added a wall of shelving to the master bedroom, as well as motorized drapes covering the floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening to a patio and a screened porch. The en suite bathroom was converted from a bedroom and includes two walk-in closets, two vanities, a walk-in shower, a soaking tub overlooking a Zen garden and shower, and a separate toilet room.

One of two main-level guest rooms was turned into an office. Off it is a guest bathroom with a trough sink and a paneled wall that opens to reveal a shower. A closet has been turned into a 400-bottle wine-storage room. The second guest room on this floor is used as a gym; it has hardwood floors, a mirrored wall and a wall of glass opening to the front yard.

The raised basement level has two guest bedrooms and two full bathrooms. Both bedrooms overlook the side yard and one has a private bathroom. The second has pocket doors opening to a tandem room. There is also a laundry room and a walk-in cedar closet, as well as storage and mechanicals rooms.

Outdoor space: The screened porch runs for 31 feet alongside the great room. The exterior rear patio is 56 by 15 feet. Parking is in the original carport next to the main house. The sellers installed snow-melting pavement between the two.

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$1.5 Million Homes in Florida, Illinois and California - The New York Times

SPONSORED byFBC Mortgage: This two-bedroom, one-bath bungalow is located at 1623 Canton Street [GMap] in Colonialtown North and is a quick bike ride away from Mills 50 and Audubon Park bars and restaurants.

The 1,182 SF home sits on a corner lot and features original hardwood floors, a gas fireplace, and original classic molding.

The kitchen has a gas stove island, stainless steel appliances, a laundry closet with exterior access to the back porch and garden, and more.

The master is privately located in the rear of the home with double French doors that lead to the back porch and the recently renovated bathroom features tile flooring, new subway tile, and a newly installed vanity.

The asking price is $309,00.

Click HERE for more information and photos or to arrange a tour, or contact Lisa Morgan, Mainframe Real Estate, at 407-738-9784 or [emailprotected]

All photos by Gil Levy, Framed Listings.Instagram @framedlistings

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House of the Day: Colonialtown 1930s bungalow asking $309000 - Bungalower

New Jersey needs more space to house and treat patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

As part of his push to ensure those spaces exist, Gov. Phil Murphy directed operators of longterm care facilities to make arrangements to accommodate residents with the coronavirus by creating separate, isolated units were these patients can recover without endangering non-COVID residents.

In less than two weeks, the staff at one South Jersey continuing care community managed to convert a former patient wing that hadnt housed patients in years into a dedicated COVID-19 unit.

Friends Village at Woodstown welcomed its first coronavirus patients to the isolated unit on Wednesday, just 13 days after the renovation project began.

A lot came together in a very short time, acknowledged Gary Morris, director of marketing at Friends Village.

Friends is a retirement community in Salem County that provides all levels of care for seniors, from independent living to assisted living and long-term services on a 30-acre campus.

Workers renovate an old unit at Friends Village at Woodstown to prepare for COVID-19 patients.

This expansion is not intended to take hospital overflow cases, as is being done in a few other nursing homes statewide.

Patients treated here, including current Friends Village residents, will be those discharged from hospitals who are still COVID positive but over their window of worry, so to speak, Morris said. We would get them back up and running.

The new unit can include eight to 12 beds, but that figure is a moving target, Morris said.

Over the years, Friends Village has expanded into different areas of independent living, Morris explained, and new cottages and apartments have been built across the campus. The renovated wing was a residential area decades ago, but hasnt seen patients in about 17 years. Until last month, it was used for storage.

Friends Village knew it had to prepare for the coronavirus and quickly formed a plan to reactivate the area, which needed plenty of renovations.

We looked at that hallway and said we can make it happen, Morris said.

They discussed the idea in late March and had approval from the state Department of Health by April 2. They had bids for roof work that night.

Renovations to the wing included installing an entirely new roof to replace the leaky old one, installing new plumbing and bathroom fixtures, replacing carpeting with vinyl flooring, installing phone lines and WiFi, and giving the whole place a fresh coat of paint. Each single-patient room comes complete with a TV.

The unit is completely blocked off from the rest of the facility, with a separate exterior entrance and a separate drop-off area for ambulances.

We completely rerouted ambulance traffic on campus, Morris said. We tried to manage the flow so we know exactly where every positive patient would be on campus, even from arrival by ambulance.

The units staff of about 20, including three shifts of nurses, aides, physical therapists and maintenance, work in this unit only.

In addition to contractors, the facilitys maintenance staff worked 18-hour days to pull this project together, while other members of the staff pitched in.

It was all hands on deck, Morris said. Personally, I was laying on the floor hooking up hospital beds. The only way to make it happen was to put your titles and roles away. We were just doing everything.

LeeAnne McCauley, director of nursing at Friends Village, posted a message to Facebook praising the teamwork that made this project possible.

Today is my 13th straight at work with most of those days averaging 14+ hours, she wrote. And there are other people who have put even more time in than that. The teamwork that pulled this off is nothing short of spectacular.

Ambulances will be directed to a special drop-off point for COVID-19 patients arriving at the new coronavirus unit opened at Friends Village at Woodstown.

Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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It sat empty for 17 years. In 13 days they built new wing for coronavirus patients. - NJ.com

Researchers from the West Pomeranian University of Technology (ZUT) in Poland have produced a study on the automation of 3D printing construction, while also investigating methods of improving the process in regards to the rheological properties of the concrete mix.

Specifically, the study details the application of additive manufacturing technology in the fabrication of a building wall model, in which the door opening was finished with an automated lintel installation.A lintel is a beam placed across openings in buildings like doors, windows etc. to support the load from the structure above.

The objective of the study was to improve the low capacity of 3D printed concrete mixes to transfer loads, which can be particularly troublesome in cases of external components that need to be placed on top such as precast lintels or floor beams during 3D printing construction processes.

Such an investigation, according to the researchers, can prove beneficial in designing larger civil structures using concrete 3D printing technology.

The advantages of construction 3D printing

The study sets out by explaining that developments in construction technology have been focused on speeding up the construction of buildings and structures through automation. A technology at the forefront of this development is additive manufacturing using concrete mixes, which allows the building up of a structure by extruding a concrete mix layer by layer.

Considering that the formwork can constitute to 3554% of total costs of raising concrete structure. The application of additive manufacturing brings measurable profits. Not only does it allow production of structures without the formwork, but it also reduces total production time, costs and labor. The technology also increases the safety of workers on the construction site, produces less waste and uses raw materials with low embodied energy, explain the authors of the study.

Indeed, recently the field of construction 3D printing has seen a number of initiatives and projects unfold which enabled the building of large structures in a short amount of time compared to traditional construction processes. For example SQ4D, an offshoot of the New York-based S-Squared 3D Printers (SQ3D), recently completed construction of a new building, in what it claims is the largest permitted 3D printed home in the world. Spanning 1900 square feet, construction of the 3D printed home reportedly took place over an eight-day period, with a total of 48 hours in print time.

New Story, a non-profit organization fighting homelessness and ICON, a Texas-based construction technologies company, have also begun an initiative seeking to create the worlds first 3D printed community of concrete homes. First announced in 2018, the 3D printed homes are intended to provide low-cost housing for low-income communities in Latin America that adapt to their day-to-day lives. Thus far two houses have now been 3D printed by ICON and New Story in Tabasco; each was completed in around 24 hours of print time and measures 500 sq ft. 3D printing was identified by New Story as a way to provide homes for these families at a faster pace.

Rheological properties of concrete in construction 3D printing

Discussing the additive manufacturing of structures, the ZUT researchers explain in their research the importance of ensuring a correlation between the increase of the load caused by additional printed layers, and the growth of the strength of layers already placed during the process of curing. Explaining further, the authors write: From this point of view, it is important to determine the appropriate extrusion speed, which makes it possible to obtain sufficient strength for each layer by the time the printing head returns to its home position, the layer needs to withstand the load imposed by layer deposited on top. As such, a central challenge in 3D printing is to obtain a mix with desired rheological properties, in order to ensure a proper printing process.

The purpose of the study is to therefore present the additive manufacturing of a scaled down wall model with a door opening, including the automated installation of a lintel. Specifically, the research adjusts the wall design and printing process to account for the rheological and mechanical properties of the fresh concrete, as well as the process of the automated lintel installation.

3D printing set-up. Photo via Materials 2020.The researchers aim to demonstrate that the automated process can be designed with high accuracy, as confirmed by simulation. They constructed the wall at a specially designed site, consisting of a 3D robot connected to a pumping module. The 3D printer and printing head motions were controlled by a G-code, whereas the mix was prepared in a laboratory mixer and transferred to the pump unit, from where it was delivered to the printing head hopper through a hose.

As part of the experiment, a special gripper was built in order to automatically transfer the lintel and install it on the wall in the determined position. The lintel placement via the gripper took place as the 3D printing robot was running, with the printing process recommencing as soon as they were completed. The concrete mix used in the experiments was designed on the basis of ensuring its optimal rheological properties for the 3D printing process. It had a 0.23 water-cement ratio and a density of 2168 kg/m.

After successfully 3D printing the scale model wall, the researchers were able to confirm the possibility of automating the wall construction process in additive manufacturing with the installation of a lintel with a special gripper. It was also proven that the printer can be used for placing precast elements during the whole process of printing. Significantly, the researchers also confirmed that the rheological properties of fresh concrete are of higher significance in 3D printing construction, than in the case of conventional concrete construction, due to the specific process characteristics involved.

Concluding the paper, the researchers state There are currently several experimental projects being carried out at different research centers, investigating the desired mechanical and rheological properties of concrete mixes and their behavior during the printing process. Further research concerning mix properties and 3D printing strategies will result in the development of design and construction procedures, which will ensure the required level of printed construction structural safety.

The paper, Automation in the Construction of a 3D-Printed Concrete Wall with the Use of a Lintel Gripper, is written by Marcin Hoffmann, Szymon Skibicki, Pawe Pankratow, Adam Zieliski, Mirosaw Pajor and Mateusz Techman. It is published in the journal Materials.

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Featured image shows the steps for printing a wall with a lintel. Photo via Materials 2020.

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Polish researchers explore automation for 3D printed building - 3D Printing Industry