Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Pressure Pro
Visit us at: http://www.pressureproqc.com/ At Pressure Pro we offer only the highest quality exterior refinishing options for commercial, industrial and resi...

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LifeStyle with Denise Simons: Interior Design New Tile Countertops
Shirley Horowitz, of Davishire Interiors, and Justin Higginbotham, of Designer Floors, visit LifeStyle with Denise Simons.

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LifeStyle with Denise Simons: Interior Design & New Tile Countertops - Video

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HERE BE DRAGONS: The investors of Dragons' Den are looking for passion and innovative thinking.

Two new entrepreneurs join the judging panel when Dragons' Den season 11 makes its New Zealand debut tonight on Sky's BBC Knowledge channel. James Croot caught up with one of them - interior designer Kelly Hoppen.

When and how did you first discover your skills as an interior decorator? And as an entrepreneur?

I have always wanted to be a designer. My mother always tells me that as a child I was constantly shifting furniture around our home, displaying everything at its best. I am sure it drove her crazy! Then when I was 16 and a half, a friend of my father asked me to design his kitchen. That was my first assignment and how my business started and I havent looked back since the passion to do what I do just grew stronger with time. I suppose I have always been determined and wanted to work hard.

What are the most important business lessons you learned in your youth?

Once when I was working with a life coach, one of the things he told me when I wanted to build the business was: 1) Your business never reaches the top, you can always take the next step. 2) If you step down from where you are standing, you can fall a lot further than you think. Also remember, success is not a day job, you have to work hard.

Who was your inspiration or mentor in business?

In terms of individuals who inspired me, there have been so many throughout my life and many for different reasons but a few that stand out include Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Nelson Mandela people who have a voice and are not frightened of speaking and are true to their thoughts are always an inspiration. My mother is also a great inspiration, she is a successful businesswoman, even to this day.

How important was your education in assisting in your business career?

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Kelly Hoppen talks Dragons' Den and ambition

Skokie, Ill (PRWEB) July 03, 2014

The new Interlace LED suspension light fixture by LBL Lighting was chosen as the Indoor Decorative category winner at the 2014 LIGHTFAIR Innovation Awards. Held this year at the Las Vegas Convention Center, LIGHTFAIR International (LFI) is the worlds largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show and conference.

Inspired by the sculptural nature of large suspension bridges, the Interlace suspension by LBL Lighting has a notched, aluminum outer ring to accommodate hand-strung, steel cables which create an intricate, interwoven pattern. The LEDs entrenched within its circular structure illuminate its inner design cables to create a truly spectacular fixture. Three suspension cables allow Interlace to be hung flat or at virtually any angle, and it can be hung in a group at varying heights and angles to create a dramatic installation, particularly in a commercial space. Its dimensions are 29.5 in diameter and 1.1 high.

The LFI Innovation Awards had 261 submissions from 135 companies that spanned 14 categories; each submission was judged by an independent panel of lighting professionals. The winners were awarded for product entries that exemplified the best in innovative design and thinking. The Indoor Decorative category included chandeliers, pendants, sconces and task lights.

About LBL Lighting Headquartered just outside of Chicago in Skokie, Ill., LBL Lighting has been designing and manufacturing some of the most beautiful and creative lighting in the industry for more than 40 years. The companys diverse portfolio of high design-infused lighting products includes a wide range of chandeliers, suspension pieces, flush mounts, wall sconces, decorative glass pendants, architectural heads and outdoor wall fixtures. LBL Lightings products can be found in lighting retailers and through sales representatives across North America. To view products, visit http://www.lbllighting.com.

About Generation Brands As the parent company to LBL Lighting, Generation Brands is one of Americas leading companies serving lighting retailers plus the electrical wholesale, home improvement and building industries. The company has an outstanding portfolio of residential and commercial lighting fixtures, ceiling fans and decorative products which provide value and growth to its customers and end-users. The companys success is derived from its ability to serve its customers and end-users with superior service, leading edge design and outstanding quality.

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LBL Lighting's Interlace Suspension Light Fixture Wins "Indoor Decorative" Category at the 2014 LIGHTFAIR Innovation ...

Architects Engineers For 911 Truth part 2 of 3
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Architects & Engineers For 911 Truth part 2 of 3 - Video

Architects Engineers For 911 Truth part 3 of 3
FAIR USE NOTICE: This video may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes only. This constitutes a #39;fair use #39; of...

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My Architects Moscow 2014 Volta (Created with @Magisto)
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Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Massachusetts law allowing for a 35-foot buffer zone outside clinics offering abortions. The law, which builds off of a similar one in Colorado, went into effect in 2007 and provided a fixed, no-go zone around womens reproductive health clinics. The buffer zone, which was supported by local law enforcement, limited the proximity of pro-life protestors to the women and the staff entering the facility, thus diminishing public safety concerns.

And public safety is a serious concern. While Roe v. Wade remains legally intact and secures the right to an abortion in the United States, clinic violence represents one of the greatest deterrents to women and to providers. The National Abortion Federation (NAF) has tracked reported cases of violence against clinics since 1977, and the long list of incidents includes eight murders, 17 attempted murders, 42 bombings, 181 arsons, as well as thousands of cases of criminal activity like kidnapping, stalking, and a rash of attacks using butyric acid. Add to that the daily affronts of picketing, obstruction, and intimidation, and you can understand why Vicki Saporta, president and CEO of NAF, said in a statement last week that buffer zones work" in protecting people.

The SCOTUS ruling serves yet another blow to those hoping to provide safe and accessible reproductive health services to women. While other building types have benefited from the expertise of architects when addressing public safety issues--think, for instance, of the architectural interventions around safety, wayfinding, and crowd control at hospitals, federal buildings, courthouses, and stadiums--reproductive health care clinics rarely see that kind of design support. Clinics are left to fend for themselves and, as a result, are forced to create ad hoc buffer zones where architectural and legislative options have failed to deliver.

On a cold Friday morning in December of 1994, 22-year-old John Salvi dressed in black, packed a .22-caliber rifle and several hundred rounds of ammunition into a duffle bag, and went to a stretch of road in Brookline, Massachusetts, known to pro-life activists as Abortion Row. Located near Boston, Brookline had three womens reproductive health clinics in close proximity and Salvi was able to enter two of them. He walked inside and shot indiscriminately, murdering two women who worked as receptionists and injuring five more. Salvis rampage in Brookline continued a troublesome escalation of violence against abortion clinics, including the death of two physicians and a clinic escort earlier that year in Florida.

With McCullen v. Coakley, pro-life advocate Eleanor McCullen said that the Massachusetts law impeded her ability to pass out pamphlets and quietly counsel women about their decision. In a surprising unanimous decision, SCOTUS agreed. Writing for the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts stated that the fixed buffer zone hampered the freedom of speech of those hoping to talk to women about pro-life options (though he doesn't seem to mind the buffer zone around the Supreme Court). The Court supported Massachusettss right to protect women using the clinic, but held that the state went too far in making it a crime for speakers to "enter or remain on a public way or sidewalk" within 35 feet of an entrance, exit, or driveway of a reproductive health care facility.

As Lawrence Hurley reported for Reuters, The case pitted the free speech rights of anti-abortion protesters against public safety concerns raised by women's health care providers. Public safety lost out, even though law enforcement supported the Massachusetts law, citing its effectiveness in curbing violence and maintaining the peace. (Those interested in the legal nuances of this decision should check out the SCOTUS blog.)

As a building type, women's reproductive health care clinics in the U.S.--and those states and municipalities who support and protect patients and workers--face a series of insidious challenges. Lori Brown, an architect and an associate professor at the Syracuse University School of Architecture, outlines several of these issues in her 2013 book Contested Spaces: Abortion Clinics, Womens Shelters and Hospitals. Brown was interested in understanding to what effect varying degrees of legislation impact the landscapes of reproductive health care access, as she writes in the book.

Brown visited clinics around the country and learned that many were forced to rent or buy facilities not originally designed for medical procedures. Clinic owners often ended up in less-than-ideal buildings owing to local politics, legislation, and other restraints. Often people would not rent or sell to abortion providers, Brown writes, so once providers find a location that can be made to work . . . they typically jump at the property.

A 2013 survey of NAF members found that 92% of responding facilities were concerned about the safety of patients in the areas near a facility. Because clinics run on shoestring budgets, Brown learned that many resort to clever architectural hacks to help safeguard against protesters. It was really interesting interviewing clinic owners, particularly in the Southern region where they have so many protests, and hear about the creative ways that they try to create separation, Brown tells CoDesign.

One clinic uses a sprinkler system as a kind of water fence. Another blares classical music to drown out the shouts from protesters. Yet another blasts industrial fans inside for white noise. One clinic cultivated a tall privacy hedge at the border of the public sidewalk until local police insisted the nonprofit cut it down for fear it would be an easy place to hide a bomb.

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The Architecture Of Abortion: How Providers Build Their Own Buffer Zones

Since going public in 2012, property developer Century Properties Group expects to complete 31 new buildings with around 1.67 million square meters of residential, office and retail space through 2019.

In a press statement on Thursday, CPG said that within the next six years, it expected to complete new residential projects for the luxury, middle income and affordable markets, as well as retail, office and medical office developments. Apart from these, Century is also developing an office building in Bonifacio Global City.

The countdown for the 31 buildings started in the year 2012 when CPG became a publicly listed company. Prior to 2012, CPG has completed 25 condominium towers totaling 873,127 square meters with 8,777 units.

Of the 31 new towers that CPG plans to deliver through the next six years, six have so far been completed: Gramercy Residences, Knightsbridge Residences, Century City Mall and the first three towers of The Azure Urban Resort Residences.

The additional residential space will mostly be located within the companys master-planned developments in Metro Manila: Century City Makati, Acqua Private Residences in Mandaluyong, Azure Urban Resort Residences in Paraaque and The Residences at Commonwealth in Quezon City. Outside of Metro Manila, CPG will also develop residential towers in its Canyon Ranch project in Cavite. Its land bank for future development also consists of properties in Pampanga, Quezon City and Batangas.

CPG earlier announced that it is expected to complete six commercial buildings totaling roughly 160,000 square meters by 2019.

Century is now evolving from being a top residential developer in Metro Manila to a well-diversified real estate developer with recurring revenue streams, CPG chief operating officer Jose Marco Antonio said.

Aside from the six completed buildings, CPG has 25 others that are now under various stages of development and construction, broken down as follows: five towers in Century City including Centuria Medical Makati, Milano Residences and Trump Tower; six towers in Azure, eight towers in Commenwealth, one office building in Fort Bonifacio and five towers in Acqua.

CPG plans to debut on the local bond market with a retail offering worth as much as P3 billion from a local offering of retail bonds, boosting funds for its expansion program. The plan is to offer unsecured fixed-rate peso denominated retail bonds worth at least P2 billion with an option to upsize by P1 billion.

Local credit watcher Credit Rating and Investors Services Philippines Inc. has assigned an AA+ issue rating with a stable outlook on the bonds, citing CPGs strong market presence, healthy financial position, and excellent land banking strategy.

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Century Properties unveils growth plan

Tour Pearl S. Buck's home in Bucks County and you'll feel as if you've discovered a treasure as prized as an oyster's pearl.

Layer after layer of Buck's story will peel away and inspire you as you go room to room, walk the grounds and visit her grave. A best-selling author, Buck was the first American woman to win both the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes for literature. But her work went far beyond the printed page.

Buck counseled presidents, mothered a brood of children (one birth child, seven adopted children and at least 10 foster children), changed the lives of thousands more children and fought for racial harmony through cultural understanding. The daughter of missionaries, she used her vast knowledge of China, where she lived for 40 years, to bridge major gaps in understanding between the East and the West.

Beloved and admired, she also accepted keys to more than 30 cities, collected 13 honorary degrees and was featured on a postage stamp. She deserves as much admiration as other Bucks County luminaries, including Henry Chapman Mercer, James A. Michener and David Burpee.

"We worry young people will not know who she is because 'The Good Earth' is gone from most school reading lists," says Janet Mintzer, CEO of Pearl S. Buck International, referring to Buck's famous novel about the lives of a Chinese peasant family. Buck, who died in 1973, was born in West Virginia 122 years ago, grew up in China and lived for nearly 40 years at Green Hills Farm in Hilltown Township near Perkasie.

To keep her memory alive, Pearl Buck International not only keeps up her home, but also offers a teen leadership program and summer culture camps for children. It also continues Buck's legacy of finding loving homes for children who need them via its Welcome House program and providing still more children and their families with health care, education and support through its Opportunity House.

Pearl Buck's house, itself, also was endangered, in disrepair and needing major work despite being one of only a few National Historic Sites focusing on a woman and even fewer containing an intact collection of her belongings.

But times are looking up for Buck and her home. A new and previously unpublished manuscript has been discovered and published as "Eternal Wonder," stirring new interest in the author. The home was removed from a list of Pennsylvania's 10 most endangered historic houses and reopened in 2013, after eight years of extensive repairs and restoration.

Today, the 1825 stone farmhouse and surrounding 60 acres play a major role in telling Buck's story and continuing her legacy. Buck and her second husband, Richard Walsh, made major changes in the home to accommodate their large family and provide office space. But it never lost the appeal that made Buck fall in love with it the first time she saw it.

But how and why did Buck find her way to Bucks County?

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Bucks County home of Pearl S. Buck will inspire those who visit