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Architecture and Buildings

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Top 10 Cars from the Geneva Motor Show 2015. In Focus: Green Homes of the Future - SOLARFEEDS. The world of building has placed an onus on green solutions for building like never before and the advent of the green home is upon us at last. Future homes will offer a range of innovations that will mean they are significantly more energy efficient and vastly greener than the homes we currently reside in. So, let’s take a look at some of the top innovations in this area. Energy The increasing efficiency of green technologies means that the homes of the future will be self-reliant and manage to store the energy required to power them and all inside via a mixture of solar power and fuel cells. Batteries will store unused power for other times and anything extra will then be sent back to the grid.

Appliances We’ve seen a significant drop in the amount of energy most appliances consumer and in the future this will be set to continue. Insulation So much of the heat consumption of a home depends on the insulation and the amount of it. Affordability Biomorphic Skins Related Best Utility Ever? Aqua Platinum | Award winning pools - Aqua Platinum. Aqua Platinum are proud to have received the Energy Efficiency Award at the recent UK Pool & Spa show in Coventry. The company won the award for the Polypool insulated panel system which is now manufactured and installed by Aqua Platinum. Polypool insulated panels have been successfully installed for over 15 years and the product is now being specified by some of the leading developers, architects and engineers operating in the prime residential and commercial construction industry.

In view of the already well publicised Part L Building Regulations relating to insulation to indoor pools in the UK, Aqua Platinum have secured many prestigious and profitable contracts. The insulated panel technology is at the heart of many of these high profile schemes. Ease of transport, access and construction have all been factors in raising the profile of insulated panels as a widely accepted method of pool installation. ***** Kit prices starting from £ 9,500 for a 8m x 4m ****** Or visit our websites.

Aqua Platinum | The Magic Of Movable Floor Pools. An indoor swimming pool is one of the ultimate home improvements. It’s somewhere to relax, somewhere for a family to play and exercise, and it’s a real treat for guests. But it’s also a huge investment in space – even a small swimming pool occupies a room, and a growing family home may not have the square metres to spare. That’s why a swimming pool with a movable floor works so well in so many households. At the touch of a button, a large, deep swimming pool becomes a safe, dry entertaining space, somewhere to store luggage, or a capacious venue.

Versatile Space It’s this level of versatility that provides the luxury of a swimming pool and the practicality of a functioning room. Your household may be full of keen swimmers, who will want to use the pool daily, and the floor will be raised only occasionally; or you may find the room more useful as it is, with the pool lowered mainly if guests are over or on the weekends. Adapt To All Events The Perfect Feature. Aqua Platinum | The World’s Most Creative Swimming Pool Designs. Swimming pools already provide us with an enjoyable and relaxing way to keep fit, but some can also provide a jaw-dropping wow factor too. Pools with a very striking and specific design lend more than just a unique way to swim a few lengths – they can transform a familiar concept into a masterpiece.

From luxury spa resorts to large public baths, the world is home to some truly stunning and highly creative pool designs. Below are five of the best swimming pool designs from around the globe. Ubud Hanging Gardens Infinity Pool, Indonesia Infinity pools are currently the most coveted design of swimming pool the world over, and it’s not at all hard to see why. The result is breath-taking, and provides unique views throughout the day as the sun and moonlight create stunning reflections on the pool’s surface. Nemo 33, Belgium At depth levels that extend to 108 ft, the Uccle scuba diving centre in Belgium is home to the second deepest recreational swimming pool in the world.

Sarojin pool, Thailand.

Interiors and Home

Aqua Platinum | Aqua Platinum’s Best Swimming Pool Projects. Are you looking to install a swimming pool in your home? Nothing quite compares to diving into the crystal-clear waters of your own swimming pool for a refreshing, early morning dip. Here at Aqua Platinum Projects, no task is too grand. We have a longstanding wealth of experience in supplying a broad selection of innovative heated indoor and outdoor pools for both commercial and residential clients. Past projects have seen the Aqua Platinum crew revitalise an 18th century manor house and install leisure facilities in a series of newly built housing developments. With our team of expert developers, we’ll proficiently engineer a pool that is meticulously crafted to meet your every need and specification; whether that’s a standard indoor/outdoor fitting or an entirely unique and bespoke design with various features and capabilities. To provide you with a bit of inspiration, we’ve pulled together a few examples of some of our latest completed and upcoming installations.

Enjoy. Completed Projects. Ways Of Letting More Light Into Your Home. For all the advances in artificial lighting and the huge growth of energy-saving bulbs, there is still a lot to be said for allowing as much natural light into your home, and for as much of the day as possible. At this time of year, darkness is reluctant to leave in the morning and quick to creep in again every evening. So, for the moment, long summer days with sunlight streaming into your home until mid-evening are simply memories. However, there are a range of practical steps you can take to increase both the flow of the natural light that is still available, and to make practical, ecological use of artificial light options.

Bringing more outside light into your home There are some obvious ways of allowing more natural light into your home. There is a trend, for example, towards simply replacing dark curtains with lighter ones. An alternative, which is also becoming increasingly popular, is to replace heavy curtains with a system of light-coloured blinds or plantation shutters. The Ultimate Guide To Purchasing Flat Roof Lights. How Thick Does Your Roof Light Glass Need To Be? | EOS® Rooflights Blog. No matter where you choose to install your roof light; you want to know that it will be safe, secure and energy efficient. A large factor in ensuring that these needs are met is in the thickness of the panes that make up your unit. Whether it is being installed to the roof as a fixed, opening, or Eco model, or if you are adding a Walk On unit to your basement or terrace, there are a few factors to bear in mind to make certain that the glass is dense enough for its purpose.

The importance of thickness Like windows, roof light performance is covered by building regulations and to comply must meet a minimum U value of 1.8 W/m2K. If the panes are not well insulated, you will lose heat from your home in the colder months, and gain it in the warmer ones. Thicker glass will perform better when it comes to the flow of heat, which will save you money on energy bills for central heating or air conditioning. On top of this, peace of mind is granted from the security of density. The measurements.

Porsche Design Tower In Miami - PG Times. Porsche Design seems to have moved up in the world. Having got tired of designing trainers and watches, they have decided to have a stab at the architectural world. As you would expect form Porsche, there is a heavy focus on peoples cars. The 60 storey building that features 132 apartments also has glass car lifts installed. This will allow the residents of the ultra high end apartments to drive their car right into the garage of their apartment, and then admire it through the garages glass walls. Each elevator can hold 2 or 4 cars. The smallest apartments are 4200 sq ft, and the largest is 17,000 sq ft, meaning that even those at the cheaper end of the apartment buildings scale should have no shortage of space.

With the apartment block leading straight onto the beach, we are pretty sure all the residents will have some spectacular views of the ocean. At the recent launch event of the site they said the initial sales process had gone excellently, with lots of interest and reservations. EOS Rooflights - Skylights and Roof Glazing. How Installing Rooflights Can Save You Money on Energy Bills | EOS® Rooflights Blog. Increasingly, new build projects as well as existing buildings are maximising the use of natural light together with the thermal properties of modern glass, to create a revolution in how we look at heat retention and accessing light sources.

A major factor behind recent innovations is the ever-increasing energy costs for both domestic and commercial properties. The earth receives 94 billion megawatts of power absolutely free of charge from the Sun every single day of the year. To not use this and instead replace it with home-grown electricity is largely unnecessary. The potential ecological waste is only part of the issue. The natural light from the sun is in fact much brighter and cleaner than most sources that we can manufacture. In a working environment, natural light can lead to dramatically increased productivity, and in hospitals there is evidence of faster patient recovery. With vertical windows only, daylight can rarely reach across the whole room. By EOS Rooflights. How to Choose the Right Skylights for Your Home | EOS® Rooflights Blog. Want to brighten up your home? Skylights could provide you with the ideal solution. In addition to bringing natural light into your home, skylights will help you to reduce your dependency on artificial lighting, enabling you to save money and reduce your carbon footprint.

Whether you are looking to brighten up your kitchen, hallway, living room or loft conversion, you will need to choose the best skylight for your needs. Here are just a few of the considerations you will need to make before purchasing a skylight for your home. Size The physical size of your skylight will have an impact on the illumination level and temperature of the room in which it is installed, so choosing wisely will help you better control the level of light and heat coming into your home. Type There are two main types of skylight: fixed and opening. If you wish to improve ventilation, open skylights will enable you to let more air into a room. Location Insulation Cost By EOS Rooflights. Choosing Safe And Secure Glass For Your Rooflights | EOS® Rooflights Blog. When it comes to installing rooflights in your home, safety is paramount. The perfect choice should be a blend of contemporary design, thermal efficiency, safety and security. The glass used in manufacture is the best indicator for safety levels so it is essential that you choose the right kind of glass for your rooflight.

In order to ensure your utmost safety, the ideal specification should include a double glazed unit with an outer toughened pane and an inner panel of heat strengthened laminated glass. Otherwise known as tempered, toughened glass is specially treated to be far more resistant to breakage than standard glass. Toughened glass is ideal for the outer pane as it greatly reduces the chances of breakages.

If smashed, it is made to shatter into multiple tiny fragments instead of larger more hazardous shards. Laminated glass is commonly used for safety and security purposes, because rather than shattering on impact, it simply cracks. Toughened Laminated By EOS Rooflights. How The Garage Has Changed. Despite the popular image of the garage as a relatively modern invention, garages in one form or another have existed for centuries.

The first garages were perhaps better named as carriage houses, used to store the horse drawn carriages of earlier centuries. Many of these carriage houses were converted to store the various automobiles of the day when cars began to gain popularity and replace the traditional modes of transport. Ever since the rise of the car, the residential garage has been a key part of many homes in the UK and abroad. Whether the garage is attached to the home or simply part of the wider property, the garage provides an integral extension useful for a variety of purposes. Traditionally used simply for storing vehicles, garages developed into a place to store tools as well as a workspace. The average size of garages has increased over the years, with a significant difference of 30% between 1930 and 1960 alone.

This article was provided by Ryan Hirst. Sources: What You Need To Consider When Purchasing A New Garage - Infographic. How To Choose A Suitable Garage For Your Home. Having additional space in the home is always useful and by adding a garage to your property this is exactly what you can achieve. In addition to having more room, building a new garage can also increase the value of your house and enhance kerb appeal. So, if you’ve decided that you want to build a garage and you’re now in the stages of finding a suitable design for your home, what do you need to bear in mind? Here at Lidget Compton, we’ll take you through some of the fundamental aspects to consider. What’s your garage for? First of all, before you even start to think about aesthetics, you need to work out what you are intending to use your garage for.

If you can pinpoint what you will be using your garage for, this will allow you to choose one that matches your requirements. Work out what you intend to use your garage for first and this will allow you to make logical decisions thereafter. Attached or detached? Budget Materials and style Style will also dictate which design you end up with. Do You Need Planning Permission When Buying A Garage?

So you’ve decided to buy a new garage, then you’ve begun to think about its shape, size, purpose and design. Don’t get too carried away though – before the building starts, you will need to consider whether planning permission is required. If so, it is essential to know what to do in order to get the application approved. What Is Planning Permission? This is the go-ahead from your Local Planning Authority (LPA) to build on land. Generally speaking, most garages over 2.5m in height require planning.

If there is any doubt about any building plans you have, it is always best to be on the safe side and enquire with your LPA. To find your local authority, the Planning Portal allows you to search their database. When You May Need It There are several circumstances where it is more likely that planning permission will be a necessity. Will the garage go beyond the front elevation of your house? How To Apply Some of the topics you should discuss with them include: Image Courtesy Of BigStock Photo. Top 4 Ways How You Can Improve The Security Of Your Garage.

While many of us keep a number of possessions in the garage, it’s important to make sure that you have the correct security measures in place to protect your items. Furthermore, you also want to ensure that you reduce the amount of damage caused and financial costs incurred if someone ever does try to force their way in.

Waking up to discover that your car, garden furniture, tools, or other valuable possessions have been stolen is a situation that you will want to avoid at all costs. Improving an easy target For thieves, the garage presents a perfect opportunity to steal expensive household items stored away. Additionally, if your garage is connected to your home, it also presents another entry point to gain access. The more deterrents you have in place, the less likely thieves will manage to get inside. So what preventative measures can you use to deter criminals and keep your items safe?

1. Side doors Main panel doors 2. 3. 4. Conclusion References: Independent Drainage Ltd - Septic Tank Emptying in Wimborne BH21 3RN. GEZE - Pressarticle. GEZE.