According to Britain publication The Telegraph, the company Transport for London (TfL) plans to transform London's 50 tube stops, bus stations and adjacent buildings into tourist attractions, luxury penthouse apartments, homes, offices and shops. The revenue raised (US$ 5.1 billion) from the highly anticipated project, which will transform underground stations into profit generating businesses, will help to upgrade the capital's creaking transport infrastructure and cater for London's rapidly expanding population. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, claimed the 10-year redevelopment project which will unlock revenues from Transport for London assets, will also help reduce the increase in travel fares for commuters and tourists. "London's population is set to grow from 8.4 million today to 10 million by 2030," said Graeme Craig, TfL's director of commercial development. "London needs more homes and office spaces and the transport network needs sustained, long-term investment." On February 2 the organization launched a one-year tender process to appoint a small number of property development partners to work on the overall collection of sites which cover 92 thousand square meter of land.
Museum-institute after Komitas opened its doors in Yerevan as part of Armenian Genocide 100th anniversary. The museum consists of several rooms - concert hall, research center, music studio, library, publishing house and 8 halls where a huge intellectual heritage of the Master is presented. First proposal about the museum construction was made on May 30, 2013 during a meeting of Trustees' Board of All-Armenian Fund Hayastan. Fund decided to convey to Armenian Government former Cultural Palace in the park after Komitas. But this building was partially dilapidated. The project was funded by "Phoenix" fund philanthropist Gabriel Jambarjyan. Museum construction started on September 19, 2013. Project architect is Arthur Meschyan. During the museum inauguration architect said, in this case the building architecture wasn't important. The architecture, of course, has its place, but the museum is the people, not the building.
3D printers are everywhere and they have been used to construct everything. Recently a Chinese company WinSun has successfully 3D printed a five-story apartment building and a 110 square meters villa from special print material. China's newest mansion is not only made from recycled materials, but the sprawling 110 square meters home was made with 3D printing. The luxury mansion was 3D printed in layers, using recycled stone and construction waste. In order to print a mansion, WinSun had to construct a larger-than-life 3D printer. The mansion printer stands 6.6 meters high, 10 meters wide and 40 meters long. Combining recycled materials and quick-dry cement, the giant printer squeezes out layer upon layer of pasty materials in strong diagonal shapes, which then harden. The pieces are reinforced with steel, and then filled with insulation like any other wall when building a house. In addition to the mansion, WinSun has also 3D printed a five-story apartment building and 10 affordable homes from recycled materials. WinSun's 3D-printed five-story apartment building took just one day to print, and then five additional days to assemble, with low construction waste and minimal laborers needed. The mansion, which was 3D printed inside and out, also saved on construction and labor. In the future, WinSun plans to use the efficient and low-construction waste process to build bridges and soaring skyscrapers. The company has already proven its stake in the 3D-printed architecture market, printing 10 homes at US$ 5,000 a piece in March of last year. Last year the Dutch company DUS Architects developed 3D-printid house using bioplastic.
According to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) annual report about skyscrapers construction all over the world, 2014 was a record year. The CTBUH has determined that 97 buildings of 200 meters' height or greater were completed around the world in 2014. Nearly half of all high-rise buildings were being built in China. The 11 of these supertalls were 300 meters or higher. The 97 buildings completed in 2014 beat every previous year on record, including the previous record high of 81 completions in 2011. This was the "tallest year ever" by another measure: The sum of heights of all 200-meter-plus buildings completed across the globe in 2014 was 23,333 meters - setting another all-time record and breaking 2011's previous record of 19,852 meters. The number of 200-meter-plus buildings in existence has hit 935, a 352% increase from 2000, when only 266 existed. China completed the most 200-meter-plus buildings (58). This represents 60% of the global 2014 total. According to CTBUH their annual number of skyscrapers will increase related to economic development of China. The Philippines took second place with five completions, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar share position three with four completions, and the United States, Japan, Indonesia and Canada tie for fourth, with three completions each. At 541 meters, One World Trade Center was the tallest building to complete in 2014 and is now the world's third-tallest building. From 97 skyscrapers, built in 2014, 47 are designed for offices. Another 26 are classified as multi-functional center with a hotel, commercial and residential areas. If anything, 2015 promises to be more active than 2014 and indeed, any year previous. We currently project the completion of between 105 and 130 buildings of 200 meters' height or greater, eight to 15 of which will be supertalls, and one of which will be a megatall - Shanghai Tower (632 meters). Founded in 1969, the Council's mission is to disseminate multidisciplinary information on tall buildings and sustainable urban environments, to maximize the international interaction of professionals involved in creating the built environment, and to make the latest knowledge available to professionals in a useful form. Now CTBUH headquarters located in Chicago.
A two-story luxury condo in Manhattan has just become the most expensive apartment ever sold in New York City. A duplex penthouse spanning the top two floors of the One57 condominium tower was sold for $100.5 million, setting a record for the most expensive residential deal ever completed in Manhattan. The apartment, which spans all of the 89th and 90th floors of the 306-meter tower, with almost 1020 square meters, include 6 bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a steam room, a library, and an indoor movie theater. All apartments of this tower have soaring ceilings, rosewood flooring and custom Italian marble baths. Residents of the building also have access to a gaggle of uber luxe amenities, including a gym, a pool and Jacuzzi, a steam room, a library and a screening room. The trophy tower, which is nearly sold out, has attracted local and foreign buyers. Sales at One57 began in 2011 and reached US$ 1 billion in the first six months, including the last record deal. Another duplex at the building, spanning the 75th and 76th floors, is under contract to be sold for more than $90 million to an investment group that includes Bill Ackman. Earlier we reported, that the prime minister of Qatar was ready to plunk down nearly US$ 100 million for the city's most expensive penthouse - an ultra-luxe, two-story pad atop the under-construction One57 condominium. Now, the duplex penthouse owner name wasn't published. And though $100 million may seem like a lot, New York's priciest penthouse will most likely prove to be a savvy investment as more expensive homes continues to go on sale. Already, a tower on 520 Park Avenue has a penthouse on the market for $130 million, and prices are only expected to climb. Previous price record belonged to the Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who bought an apartment in New York for US$ 88 million for his student daughter.
