Harpa Concert Hall

  Harpa is a concert hall and conference centre, built in Reykjavik, Iceland. It attended it's opening concert on May 4, 2011. 

   The buidling facade is totally glazed with bottle green coloured glass which was inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland.

   The construction of the buidling was started in 2007 and it took 4 years in completion and finally the building was open for the public in 2011. The floor area cover 28000 sq. meters and it stand  43 meters tall from the ground. The total estimated budget in the entire project is around €164 million.

    The buidling was designed by the Danish firm, Henning Larsen Architects in cooperation with Danish-Icelandic architect Olafur Eliasson. The idea behind the design at first was to mimic World Trade Center, Reykjavik, to some extent, but the plan was abandoned due to national financial crisis. The initial plan was to built a commercial and residential tower with hotel, restaurants, apartments and car park. The construction was halted soon after it started and took multiple pauses in between thats why it took 4 years in completion 

Nursing Homes Ireland

  Nursing home or retirement villages are accommodation for the people who are battling through the certain conditions and unable to take care of themselves. It is usually needed for the people who are somewhere in between being in the hospital and not well enough to manage at home alone.

Ireland has 460 nursing homes nationwide. These communities are growing with the time and now only trained professionals are hired to take care of the people in need.

  The mandatory services which a nursing home provide besides 24/7 assistance are physical therapy, speech therapy, memory care or dementia care.
There are particular standards that need to be followed in nursing particularly in Ireland and more or less around the globe as well.

• Individual Centered Care and Support 

                                                      

   Every individual must be treated according to their certain needs. Not everyone in the place requires the same amount of care and that should be taken into consideration.

   Their concerns should be acted upon in a timely and effective manner. Link to the community should be in accordance with their wishes. 

•  Effective Services

    Each resident needs to have their own care plan. They should be taken care of 24/7 to give them the homely feeling and there should be a certain amount of privacy with every individual to respect their dignity and autonomy.

• Safe Services

    Every individual must be safeguarded from neglect and abuse. Proper policy management for everyone is a must and personal belongings and finances should be kept private and taken care of.

• Health and Wellbeing

    There should be different and effective activity plans for every individual that meets their certain needs and preferences. These supports should be for their physical and mental wellbeing.

• Leadership and Management

    The quality of care being provided should be monitored, reviewed and if there is any scope of improvement, it should be improved.

Replacing Light Fixtures

  Replacing a light fixture can be a very risky task and DIY approach should be avoided, working on larger scale. Handy man or trained/professional electrician should be hired for the tasks like that.

  The steps for the task as follow:

Flipping a Breaker:

  The first approach in changing a light fixture is to shut the breaker off and proceed further, so there is no electricity flowing in the circuit. But even most of the times this is not enough, some junction boxes contain wiring from the multiple circuits. If that is the reason, it is advised to use a tester to check the flow of electricity, if the light in the tester starts glowing the there is still current flowing in the wire. In that case the best approach is to find the circuit breaker for particular circuit and turn it off then proceed.

Extra Hardware:

   Having extra hardware and tools always comes in handy having multiple types of wall bracket and tools can be helpful at sight. It is quite possible the mounting brackets may not work with the new light fixtures and it is good to have some extra at work.

   Another example is the screws, they can be too long or too short sometimes depending on the particular situation. Using a hacksaw in the situation like these is not the right approach because that will mess up the threads of the screws and will compromise on the fixture. Using bolt cutters is the best tool to be used in these situations.

Extension of Wires:

   Wires should be extended in the first place before applying a light fixture for future. In future if there is any renovation these extended wires can be a big help. Installing stab in connectors is the best approach. But trained technician should be doing the job because stab in connectors can compromise wiring and can be resulted in broken connection and other issue is if it is not installed properly it might strip away lots of wire insulation leaving bare copper winding exposed which can cause short circuit.

   There are many advantages but some disadvantages too, as it can’t be undone easily in future, the only way is to cut the wiring and start over again. Although some manufacturers have improved and introduced push-in clamps. But they are not widely used and cannot substitute screws as they are considered safest ones available.

Check Wiring:

   Wiring need to be checked before installing the light fixture. It is advised to check the wire rating and use the wiring which is rated for at least 90 degrees. A low rated wiring used can end up in fire. Although hanging fixture don’t normally require new wiring as they don’t heat up the wires that much. If changing wiring is not possible then you have to choose fixture that doesn’t carry this warning.

   Hanging light fixtures have canopies, that is mostly held by two screws, although aligning those two screws seems to be an easy enough job but it very necessary that they sit opposite to each other for a strong hold.

Extra Lights:

   Focal lights and headlamps must be kept at sight while working with the light fixtures. It cannot be determined how much time it will take before analyzing the fixtures, so it is considered to be a good practice to have them all the time and even in some situation day light may not be enough depends on the time of the day and the work site as well.

Check for Ground:

   New light fixtures come with ground wiring (green coated or bare copper). But in most of the older metal boxes, there may not be a ground wire. Adding a ground wire is not a difficult job and should be added if it is not there. But before proceeding it should be made sure that the box is itself grounded.

Edwardian Architecture

Introduction

   Edwardian architecture style started in 19^th century during the reign of the Edward VII (1901-1910). Its basically originated from Victorian era, which started back in 18^th century but Edwardian architecture is considered to be less ornate than Victorian.

   The characteristics of Edwardian era comprises on:

·       Colour: lighter colours were used; the use of gas and later electric lights caused designers to be less concerned about the need to disguise soot build up on walls compared to Victorian era architecture.

·       Patterns: "Decorative patterns were less complex; both wallpaper and curtain designs were more plain."

·       Clutter: "There was less clutter than in the Victorian era. Ornaments were perhaps grouped rather than everywhere."

   Most distinctive features of the Edwardian era are front garden, porches, sash windows, balconies, pebbled and mock timber frame on the upper story and less elaborate barge boards. The use of timber is quite elaborative in Edwardian period and can be seen on windows and even porches which are edged with timber railings. Other material that was quite heavily used in Edwardian era was red brick. Edwardian era tended towards elaborated balconies with ornate railings and massive windows dived into two parts where lower part tends to be clear while the upper part is normally divided with glazing bars and the other distinctive part is having generous front garden with huge amount of area but they became less common by the time.

    Most of the buildings of 19^th century in Limerick were not in the good shape in late 2000’s, the ceilings were falling down, were full of dry rot and wet rot, the floor boards were rotting. But soon they were taken care of and were renovated after they were listed by county council for preservation.

    Shannon rowing club still serves the same purpose for what it was built for and same is the case with other two i.e. Springdale and Glendale, both are used as private accommodation.

    Due to change in technology and building regulations there has been changes made in the structure such as now all of the buildings are well insulated, provisions of fire and safety is present and other things like windows are well glazed which makes the building efficient but there has been no changes made in the façade and even inside every inch has been preserved.

History

  Edwardian architecture was very evident in Limerick. Building having detached or semi-detached dwellings with unified terraces which can be seen today in number of places in Limerick such as O’Connell Avenue, North and South circular roads and Ennis road are some of the examples of it. Springdale is red brick house situated on Ennis road, Limerick. It was built in 1900, a two-storey house facing south with three-sided canted bay window to gabled breakfront. It was built using terracotta comb ridge tiles, an arch built with red bricks, red brick reveals, an attic opening and timber windows with limestone sills. Similar to other Edwardian structure it includes balcony, timber and porched gables and brick detailing.

  Its one of the rare ones in Edwardian style in Limerick, it is one of the fully detached period houses with huge garden area, which was very common in 19^th century.

  Springdale was designed by William Clifford Smith, a young Welsh architect. He was born in 1881 in Poole, Dorset. William Clifford designed number of buildings in Edwardian style in and around Limerick such as, Shannon Rowing Club which is located on Sarsfield Bridge and a townhall in Adare.

Exterior Features

   Red bricks were common choice for Edwardian architecture. But over the years use of roughcast walls and pebbledash have been seen as well. But due to changing trends in the renovations they have been smoothen over.

    Timber was widely used as well in the Edwardian architecture and in some of the country houses timber frames can be seen for external and internal walls. Timber styles has been mocked from Tudor styles and Edwardian adopted it pretty well.

    Art Nouveau style can be spotted on particular places on the exteriors of the building but interiors were more dominated in the particular style comparatively.

    Porches were the main features of the Edwardian era and we can find massive porches in almost all of the buildings in Limerick which were built in Edwardian period. Porches were really popular in that era. It was really important to have a porch area and to some extent considered to be a hard and fast rule. Moreover, the porches in that era use to reflect the financial status of the person, the rich people use to have very rare and unique materials in their porches which shows how equally important it was with the building itself and considered to be a status symbol.

    Springdale has a huge porch area too and as being one of the less detached houses of Edwardian era in Limerick it covers even more area then the semi- detached ones, as now the porch area increases to the three sides of the house. The porch is extending around the front main door and is on the same plain with the wall. The stain glass in a wooden panelled door is there which is pretty typical Edwardian feature. The entrance is covered merging with the façade itself and a small step at the entrance just to seclude the porch area from entrance.

Interior Features

   Edwardian era was very much influenced by the Art Nouveau style it was not only with the exteriors but interior too was highly influenced. The amount of detailing, embracing the modern styles and features and use of curves even in furniture was pretty common.

     ‘The curved shape of the furniture of that period is reflective of Art Nouveau style,’ explains Rebecca Hayes.

     Dark polished wooden floor was pretty common flooring type of the era and can be widely seen in Springdale as well. Dark herringbone design wooden floor really stands out in the interior and gives a very luxurious feel.

     Another thing that was introduced by Art Nouveau was floral design wallpapers and that became common too in the Edwardian era. The Springdale has couple of its focal walls featuring floral wallpapers. Due to the invention of electricity and it being very common, the houses moved away from having wallpapers and dark colours as the smoke marks were not a problem anymore and walls were not going to get dirty from sooty air

    Multi-paned sash windows, which were commonly popular in Georgian architecture, were again seen in Edwardian homes after years.

‘It was all about the big spaces and getting natural light in,’ Michael Parinchy explains. Which is why big sash windows and big patio doors that let in plenty of natural light became popular.

   Edwardian houses really needed to stand out so besides the usage of ornate and rare materials, they hard large windows and high ceilings almost everywhere inside giving the luxurious feel.

Conservation

    The 19^th century house has been conserved very professionally and with great interest all the above and known features of Edwardian era can still be seen and that is not just the case with Springdale but almost all the structures throughout Limerick has been preserved and renovated very carefully.

    In the case of Springdale a minimal intervention was taken place, building can easily be recognized from its older pictures and sightings. The style has been kept and renovated properly and conserved with same materials and elements as were used in the first while building it.

    There has been little change with the furniture inside but as considering it a modern accommodation it needs to be changed and other issue is that, its hard to find furniture of the same period and style and they will be expensive too.

Sustainability

 Introduction:

   The history of interior design is nearly 100 years old now. What began as art of embracing form and function has now taken a leap to designated profession with years of study and research.

   The term “interior design” first emerged in United States of America in early 1900s and at that the people associated with this profession had lack of knowledge and experience. But those people with their natural talent and common senses really shifted the world’s point of view towards interior decoration and interior spaces.

  The first book for interior design was published in 1913 by Else De Wolfe named as “The House of Good Taste” and Dorothy Draper was the interior designer to establish her firm in 1923.

   Couple of years later the largest professional organization, in the field of its time was founded in the year 1931. Which sooner became the hub of professional meetings and furniture shows and the organization really was a huge effort to give this field a global recognition.

   The term “interior design” might be fairly new but the profession is very old we have seen some beautiful designs over centuries such as Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Mughal Empire are worth mentioning, but it was up to craftsmen and even architects to take up this responsibility. In early 20^th century it emerged as an individual job.

Sustainability in Built Environment:

    Environment sustainability is very important and specially in our age where it has to be our core objective to be environment friendly and usage of renewable materials is getting very common.

   Northeast Summit for a Sustainable Built Environment (NESSBE) describes the key studies in the dimension of sustainability for built environment:

1. Reduction of the energy and emission in the environment.

2. Minimizing the distraction in the ecological, natural ion areas for food production.

3. Minimizing the consumption of environmentally harmful construction   materials.

4. Recycling natural resources.

5. Preventing sound and air pollution in order to protect the inhabited health.

  Minimizing of the harmful building materials that are non-recyclable or their emissions may cause pollution are the key aspects of sustainability in built environment.

  There are number of assessment tools created over the years to check the sustainability of the structure but the two most common ones used all over the world are BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

BREEAM focuses the assessments under nine main topics:

1.    Management

2.    Health and wellbeing

3.    Energy

4.    Transport

5.    Water

6.    Materials

7.    Waste

8.    Land use and Ecology

9.    Pollution

Whereas LEED evaluates under six categories

1.    Sustainable site development

2.    Water efficiency

3.    Energy efficiency

4.    Material selection

5.    Indoor environmental quality

6.    Innovation and design process

Sustainability in Interior Design:

   Interior designing is the art and science of designing a space and most importantly keeping the users in mind and their wellbeing, based on physical and psychological parameters.

   It is not just how a finish or material will appear in the finished product but how the materials will behave after application and over the years, this practice can be termed as sustainability. It requires a through research of materials individually and their specifications.

Sustainable interior design can be defined as a design in which all the elements, materials and finishes are selected keeping an emphasis on the health of the user as well as minimizing the threat of hurting environment.

Sustainable Materials:

    Materials that have negligible effects on the environment are known as sustainable materials which includes renewable and recyclable materials mostly.

    Its not an easy job because every setting and every space demands different materials according to its functions, for example materials used in bar or café cannot be used in hospital throughout due to sterilization purposes.

   The main feature in selecting a material is its strength, what is the load bearing capacity of the materials is? Concrete and steel are by far one of toughest materials and very hard to replace but there are options available in timber and rock if we consider natural elements.

   One of the most important aspect before selecting a material is considering its recycling potential, for example most of the natural elements have the tendency to be recycled such as wood but compounds like concrete or plastic have high possibility to end up in a landfill or oceans. Now not all the materials which end up in the land fill are harmful for environment, but the list is very short.

   There are ways and procedures now available to recycle artificial materials mainly like plastic and Styrofoam but the problem is the finished product either wont have that aesthetic appeal or maybe not enough strength but it will be a good option to start using materials like this for smaller elements, another draw back is that the procedure is time consuming and expensive but that seems to be the only option as these artificial elements are non bio-degradable.

    Another thing that is consider in the selection of the material is the emission of toxic gases while in the production as well as after the application which can be very harmful specially for the users and cause number of different symptoms.

M2 Office Interiors

  M2 office interior is the interior designing office well known for office interiors. Located on Dock road, Limerick. During my visit i noticed that the works they have done with the office furniture is commendable.

   The adjustable table was the one i really liked as u can have different body postures while working and it is so good for the back, there were numerous settings on it and comes with a memory too so you can fix three settings on it. It has the ability to move all the way up so if you are spending longer hours sitting at work, you can just stand and continue with your stuff.

   The other thing i noticed their were sound insulating colorful tiles which looked very good in the setting and were serving the purpose quite well too.

   This small box like structure was built that would easily fit four people in it and was very well sound insulated, which was a really good option to sit in their alone and focus on the work or just to have a jump meeting in some place quite.

Open Office Plan

   Due to growing economy and everything going digital even shopping for small things like groceries offices are increasing in number and so is the job market growing.

   With the increase in staff the old idea of the office with walls and cubicles is no more in demand, people are moving towards open space offices as it saves a lot of space and decent amount of people can be accommodated in the space.

    

   But as every other change it has some advantages and disadvantages too, not everyone is like minded so not everyone likes it coming towards to other side of it some people don't like it because there is lack of privacy. Although it's a great idea for socializing and mingling with office colleagues and definitely promotes team work but not everyone likes that some people really like to work in peace with no one around so they can focus on work and the best example is designers.

   

   There are projects which company wants to keep it confidential until the final product is out there in fact most of the execution period is hidden by most of the employees so no matter how good is the idea of open space is you need to have confidential rooms and meeting rooms. 

   But again that can be solved by hot-desking, the room does not have to be specifically a meeting it can be something else in different times of the day.

    The new User Interface designed by Huawei to compete with android is the best example so far, recently one of the best companies of China "Huawei" was banned by US and so their all connection and ties with different US companies, it was a huge setback for Huawei as they are mainly known for android phones and Google is US company. But little did US knew Huawei was secretly working on their own UI and that could have been such a threat for Google and still is as there were no such leaks but it was leaked intentionally which showed that it was actually better than android. This lead Google to reach the US authorities and ask to lift the ban.

  

  The office was under strict 24 hour surveillance and even it was hidden from most of the employees too who were not involved in the project.

   Coming back to the business advantages it is great for business as well as number of employees can chip in ideas at the same time and there can be negative criticism as well which is good for the project as it will work as the risk assessment without even project being in that stage and ofcourse the brain storming with decent amount of people can be such abgreat idea.

Circular Economy

  So this year our focus is circular economy in our projects and what really is circular economy? According to my research so far its a cycle for the materials which can be recycled, reused or repaired easily.
 

   Circular economy is very important for our environment we are going through climate change nearly every decade now and the waste materials plays an important role in it so circular economy focuses on renewable materials which can be reused over and over again and that will help in reducing pressure over the environment. 

   On the other hand the linear economy has been hurting our world for so long now which starts from manufacturing and ends up as landfill or waste. Where as circular economy is a closed loop and you can use the material over and over again.

   It all started when Kenneth Boulding raised awareness way back in 1966 of an "open awareness".

Badshahi Mosque

The Badshahi Mosque (Imperial Mosque) is a Mughal era mosque in Lahore, located in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. The mosque is widely considered to be one of Lahore's most iconic landmarks and one of the most visited spot by tourists in Lahore.
Badshahi Mosque was commissioned by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1671, with its construction lasting two years and was completed in 1673. The mosque is an important example of Mughal architecture, wide usage of carved red sandstone with marble inlay as far as the exterior of mosque is concerned. It remains the largest and most recent of the grand imperial mosques of the Mughal-era, and was the largest mosque for 313 years and now stand to be the second largest in Pakistan after Shah Faisal mosque. After the fall of the Mughal Empire, the mosque was used as a garrison by the Sikh Empire and the British Empire, but is now one of Pakistan's most iconic sights.

History:

Aurangzeb ruled for approximately 49 years till his death in 1707, unlikely other Mughal rulers he was strict and to some extent historians says a brutal one but Hindus and Muslims were living in harmony during entire Mughal rule after the fall of Mughal dynasty the Mosque was badly damaged and misused, when Lahore came under Sikh rule, it was being used as a stable for horses and Muslims were forbidden to enter in the mosque. All the jewels such as valuable marbles, rubies and gold mostly were stolen from it.
Even when the British took control of India, they used the mosque for military training including rifle and cannon fire range. Sensing Muslim hate for them, the British demolished a large portion of the wall of the mosque, rendering the mosque unusable as a rallying place for anti-British planning. The British later returned the mosque to Muslims as a good will gesture, even though the structure had become dilapidated from misuse and neglect. The Badshahi Mosque Authority restored the holy place to its original glory.

Design Characteristics:

Boldness, majesty and power were the things that were focused by the architects in the designing of this its infrastructure  The interior has rich embellishment in stucco tracery and paneling with a fresco touch, all in bold relief, as well as marble inlay. Stone carving, as well as marble inlay on red sandstone, especially of motifs in bold relief, decorates the exterior. Embellishments on the mosque display Indo-Greek, Central Asian and Indian architectural influence in technique and motifs.


Beautiful ornamental merlons, inlaid with marble lining, add grace to the perimeter of the mosque and beautify the skyline. In various architectural features, such as the vast square courtyard, the side aisles, the four corner minarets, the projecting central transept of the prayer chamber, and the grand entrance gate, the history of development of mosque architecture of the Muslim world over the thousand years prior to its construction in 1673 culminates.
The north enclosure wall of the mosque had been laid close to the Ravi River bank, denying the building of a majestic gateway on that side. To ensure the symmetry of the gate, no majestic gate could be built on the south side, too. Thus a four plan, like the earlier Delhi Jamia Mosque, had to be abandoned. The walls had been built with small kiln-burnt bricks laid in, lime mortar (a kind of hydraulic lime) but have a veneer of red sandstone. The steps leading to the prayer chamber and its plinth have been constructed with variegated marble.
                         
The prayer chamber, exceptionally deep, divides into seven compartments by rich engraved arches carried on enormously heavy piers. Out of the seven compartments, three double domes finished in marble have artistically superb curvature, while the rest have curvilinear domes with a central rib in their interior and flat roof above. In the eastern front aisle, the ceiling of the compartment runs flat with a curved border at the cornice level.

The original floor of the courtyard had been laid with small kiln-burnt bricks set in the Mussalah pattern. The present red sandstone flooring had been laid during the last extensive repairs from 1939 to 1960). Similarly, the original floor of the prayer chamber had been constructed using cut and dressed bricks with marble and Sang-i-Abri lining, forming Mussalah. During the most recent repairs, they had been replaced by marble Mussalah.

Alberto Pinto

Alberto pinto (1943-2012) was a photographer and interior designer who was famous for his royal designs and glimpse of Middle Eastern royalty is visible in his designs.

Pinto born in Casablanca with Argentine paternal side and his mother was from Morocco that really helped Pinto as he said  “Morocco made us open-minded and generous. The colours, the smells, the warmth of the country—I think it had a big effect on both of us.”
Pinto's design was stated as Maximalist, his clientele was European aristocrats, Middle Eastern royalties and American financiers.
His designs really focuses on the old period royal designs but having a hint of modern design it becomes very contemporary sometimes and some how both are merged very nicely that they are complimenting each other.

Since his death in 2012 due to a pulmonary illness, the cabinet is under Linda Pinto’s (sister) management.
Today the firm with 80 employees are moving forward the Pinto's tastes and serving clients all over the World with eclectic tastes and suiting everyone.
The agency is following the footsteps of Pinto and achieving designs somewhere in between where modern and traditional harmonises and adapts as much to intimate rooms as to larger spaces, whether the projects be public or private.
                                    

Diamond Tower

Diamond Tower is being constructed in Jeddah,  is a 93-storeys, 432-metre (1,417 feet) tall. It is being designed primarily for residential use so far.
                                      
The design is very new and amazingly a very feasible one as far as the construction aspect is concerned. Design clearly shows the elements of rotation, movement and continuity.
Diamond tower is one of tallest building in the world and currently the second tallest in Saudi Arabia.

It is one of the best example of modern architecture. Buruoj Engineering Consultant are the architects and has taken the responsibility for designing the tower.
Looking at this structure and some others in Middle East it is obvious that Asia is taking a very active lead in field of architecture and sky scrapers.

Recreational Equipment Inc.

 
   REI is an American retail for outdoor and recreational services. It is one of the biggest and oldest corporation for making gears and apparels mainly for adventure sports and now offers outdoor oriented vacations and trip to its consumers.
  It was founded by a couple Lloyd and Mary Anderson in 1938, both of them were outdoor enthusiasts and the idea jumped into their minds when they started a basic climbing course and had to order and ice-axe all the way from Austria. So they decided they set up a co-op to help other climbers to acquire good quality gears.

  REI now has 154 stores in 36 states of US and also a decent network of online store. Over 11000 people are working for this firm and most of them are working part time in stores. Earlier in 1950s when Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Mount Everest, was hired by REI and he served the company as a CEO during 1960s.

  It has been ranked among to 100 companies by "Fortune" since 1998 and lately it has been ranked 28th in 2017. It is one of the best American companies to work in as the employees are entitled to number of benefits and as being a company for promotion of outdoor activities it encourages its employees too for it and they are eligible for free or discounted outdoor classes and courses.

    REI's logo was designed way back 1963 featuring a tree and mountains with the company initials giving it a very outdoorsy look as what company is known for. They kept it really simple and worked quite well for them. Recently REI logo has been changed and  it is a very subtle change. Usually companies drop off stuff from there log such as Starbucks Coffee turn to Starbucks, but REI added stuff to their and that too without any kind of announcement or fanfare. They added co-op to their logo and the reason behind this is, they wanted to more associated with the notion of co-op and known for being a store for people.