Thierry Henry has lodged controversial plans to demolish his US$ 9.5 million north London house and replace it with a larger property - incorporating a 12 meters high fish tank that will cost US$ 400 thousand to build, reported The Daily Mail. Henry wants to rebuild his luxury home - which was completed only in 1999 and is described as one of the finest examples of modern architecture in the UK. Stretching 12 meters from the bottom of his house to the very top, it will take 5.5 thousand gallons of water to fill house 300 fish. The aquarium will actually be made up of four separate tanks, one for each storey of the house. Each will be made of Perspex-like material and will give the optical illusion of one giant aquarium - but will be cheaper to clean, run and maintain than a single tank. Each aquarium will require a filtration system to ensure the water stays clean and fresh. Experts say there are 2 thousand species of marine life suitable for the tanks, ranging from smaller breeds of shark to clown fish, yellow tangs, blue tangs and angel fish. Henry's new home will be taller than the existing one and include a bar, a cinema and a swimming pool. Despite spending at least US$ 3.2 million on rebuild costs, the finished house is likely to be worth at least US$ 16 million. The footballer is keen to highlight the eco-features of the new home, which includes extensive glass paneling to capture natural light and a so-called "biodiverse" roof, which will incorporate plants and trees. The French footballer is the latest in a long line of celebrities including Madonna, the Beckhams, Cher and Premier League footballers Stephen Ireland, Joe Hart and Micah Richards, to splash out on opulent fish tanks. Ireland has reportedly spent more than US$ 160 thousand on his 4 meters aquarium, and is now believed to be planning a shark tank under his kitchen floor. But Henry's super-size version will dwarf them all.

Engineers in California have unleashed high-intensity artificial earthquakes on a five-storey building packed with medical equipment. The mock hospital has been built on a giant "shake table" which can subject the building to movements similar to real earthquakes. The tests are designed to determine if hospitals built on rubber bearings could function after a quake. The use of these rubber bearings is common in earthquake-prone Japan. The $5m project also tested whether the bearings could protect other strategically important buildings, such as computer data centers, so they could operate without interruption after a large earthquake. It is the first time that the bearing system has been tested under a full-scale building on a shake table in the United States. "What the bearings do is uncouple the building from the motion of the ground during an earthquake, like putting the building on roller skates," said Tara Hutchinson, an engineering professor at the University of California, San Diego. She said that while most research concentrated on the structural integrity of buildings after an earthquake, very little examined how vital contents such as stairs, lifts and other parts of a building that allowed it to fulfill its function fared after a major seismic event. The building was equipped with a surgery and an intensive-care unit, computer servers and other electrical equipment, as well as stairs and a working lift. The 80ft (24m) structure was also clad in precast concrete and synthetic stucco, two materials which are commonly used in commercial construction projects, and a large water tower and a heating and air-conditioning system was installed on the roof. On the first day of testing in early April, the shake table subjected the building to identical motions to those recorded during the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles, which measured 6.7 on the Richter scale, and the 8.8-magnitude Chile earthquake in 2010. The engineers found that the rubber bearings (or "base isolators") successfully protected the building from most of the damaging lateral motion that it would experience during a real earthquake. It also left lifts, stairs, medical equipment and other machinery intact, although there was some minor cosmetic damage. "What we found is that the contents of the building carried on working after our 'earthquakes'," said Professor Hutchinson. "If the equipment had been life-support systems keeping real people alive, then the bearings would have saved their lives." Engineers have now removed the base isolators from beneath the building, and over the next three weeks Professor Hutchinson will repeat the simulated earthquakes so that a direct comparison can be made between the damage to the building's contents with and without them in place. Rubber base isolators have already been retrofitted under the Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco city halls.

As reported news.am, the Technopark building with total floor area 6500 square meters is planned to be build in Gyumri city's technological zone, Armenian Economy Minister's advisor Vahe Danielyan told to reporters on April 26. With the bid price 1.67 billion AMD ($US 4.3 million), two construction companies, Bagramyanshin and Akhuryan Koopshin, won the Government invited tender. As per Danielyan, the construction will last eighteen months. About twenty companies will operate in the new technological center. The latter will have laboratories, an educational center, and business infrastructures. Next to Technopark, D-Link International Pte Ltd, a worldwide leader in designing and manufacturing of networking, broadband and digital electronics, also plan to build its regional office.

Construction has begun on the Foster + Partners-designed Art Museum in Datong's New City, in China. The distinctive 32 thousand square meters museum will be largely submerged into the ground, with the four large interconnected steel pyramids which form its roof appearing to erupt through the surface of the surrounding plaza. The dramatic, unusual structure also assists with the museum's passive energy savings, as skylights placed within the north and north-west facing pyramids allow for maximum natural light while minimizing the impact of solar heat. Since the roof dominates the Datong Art Museum, comprising 70 percent of the building's exposed surface area, Foster + Partners added double insulation to the panels of the roof. This measure further reduces energy consumption while maintaining the precise climate control required within an art museum. The relatively narrow skylights which follow the roof line of each of the four interconnected pyramids allow for maximum natural light for appreciation of the art work, as well as serving as a "beacon" for the museum, illuminating the night sky. Forming only 10 percent of the overall structure, maintenance requirements will be minimal. The earth-toned Corten steel panels which encase the visible exterior elements of the museum will naturally weather over time, enhancing the impression that the museum has somehow erupted from the cultural plaza. The smooth, sloping entrance to the museum will lead visitors in the Grand Gallery. Separate areas, including a children's gallery, group entrance lobby, cafe, restaurant are arranged within sunken court yards, again provided with focused natural light. The interior can be additionally subdivided to allow for event and exhibition appropriate usage of the space. Scheduled to open next year, the Datong Art Museum will be one of four new buildings constructed in Datong's Cultural Plaza. When complete, Datong's new quarter will be the centre of the city's cultural life, with the new museum as its 'urban room' - a dynamic space, open to everyone to meet and enjoy its different displays and activities.

After waves of controversy following the destructive tsunami and subsequent failure of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March of 2011, Japan began ramping down its atomic energy industry and actively pursuing safer, alternative energy sources. As reported Reuters, Electronics firm Kyocera Corporation, heavy machinery maker IHI Corporation and Mizuho Corporate Bank announced about their agreement to launch Japan's biggest solar power project at a cost of US$ 307 million. Mizuho will finance the development, and IHI will lease the land on which Kyocera will provide the solar modules and design of the site. An artist's rendering of the farm shows 290 thousand solar panels arranged on 3.14 million square meters of reclaimed land off of the southern city of Kagoshima. Their 70-megawatt plant will generate about 79 thousand megawatt hours of electricity per year, enough for about 22 thousand households. A special-purpose company (SPC) will be set up to build and run the new plant, with construction starting in July. Further elements of the project, including a start date for commercial operation, will be decided after the government sets prices for a subsidy scheme for renewable energy sources that is also scheduled for launch on July.