Today in Moscow officially inaugurated the Armenian Church, which is the largest abroad religious complex of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The ceremony was led by Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. In official ceremony participated Armenian President Serj Sargsyan, other special guests from Armenian and Russia. The sanctification ceremony of foundation stone was held on the Trifinova Street in 2004 by the late Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II and Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. Construction works began in 2006. In 2011 held the sanctification ceremony of the cross. Earlier was reported that the Church construction end planned in 2012. The architect of the religious complex is Artak Gulian. Construction is funded by Armenian and Russian patrons. The whole Cathedral site is about 13.2 thousand square meters; the height of the Cathedral Church is about 50 meters and the dome diameter - 21 meters. The main cross height is 7 meters, and the remaining 5 crosses rise by 4 meters each. The complex includes the Cathedral, the small church of "Holy Cross", diocese head residence, educational, cultural, administrative and reception facilities, a museum and a 200 car underground parking.
Google Inc. agreed to rent a former shopping mall in Mountain View, California, in the largest Silicon Valley lease deal of the year, according to Bloomberg. The former mall is being renovated into an office complex, with completion scheduled for next year, real estate investment firm Rockwood Capital LLC said in a statement. Rockwood, which has offices in San Francisco and White Plains, New York, owns the former Mayfield Mall in a venture with San Francisco-based Four Corners Properties. Once the renovation is completed, the campus will have more than 46,5 thousand square meters of office space on 11.2 hectares. Rockwood didn't disclose the lease terms, and Caroline Luz, a spokeswoman for the company with Owen Blicksilver Public Relations, declined to comment beyond the statement. Katelin Jabbari, a spokeswoman for Mountain View-based Google, declined to comment on the lease. Mayfield Mall was the first air-conditioned, enclosed shopping mall in Northern California and was previously occupied by stores including J.C. Penney Co. The property, adjacent to the San Antonio Caltrain station, is in an area with shops, restaurants, housing and a planned hotel, Rockwood said. Google, owner of the world's most popular Internet search engine, agreed in July to expand its San Francisco office space at Morgan Stanley's Hills Plaza building in what would be that city's biggest lease transaction of 2013, a person with direct knowledge of the deal said at the time. Google joins Rackspace Hosting Inc. (RAX) in using a former shopping mall for office space. Rackspace, a provider of Web-based computing services, paid US$ 32.7 million for the abandoned Windsor Park Mall in San Antonio and converted it to offices.
Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump unveiled plans to spend US$ 200 million turning the historic Old Post Office Pavilion in the nation's capital into a luxury hotel with 270 rooms and presidential suites with bulletproof windows. Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C. will take up a prime location on Pennsylvania Avenue in between the U.S. Capitol and the White House. Construction will begin in the spring of 2014 and is expected to be completed in late 2015. D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray told the audience at the Pavilion that the neighborhood in downtown D.C. has a shortage of hotels despite having plenty of museums, historic landmarks, federal buildings and offices to draw business and leisure travelers. He said the Trump hotel will help "us to define what the hotel industry, what the hospitality industry will be on this side of Pennsylvania Avenue." The Post Office, built in 1899, has been the source of much consternation among local politicians and activists. There have been multiple attempts to demolish it. Right now, it houses a few nondescript shops and fast food eateries. "They have put to rest the saga of the Old Post Office Pavilion," said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), who added that she has spent 15 years trying to get the property redeveloped. Trump is leasing the property from the Federal Government for 60 years with the possibility of two 20-year extensions at a monthly rent of US$ 250 thousand. The hotel's 270 rooms will average about 56 square meters. The color palette will feature Federal blues, creams and ivories with soft gold and silver accents and some deep reds. Two presidential suites will be located in the former offices of the Postmaster General. Each will be at least 279 square meters and have three bedrooms. The now-closed 11th Street pedestrian entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue will be reinstated as the driveway to the hotel's canopied grand entrance. Inside, guests will walk into The Cortile, a nine-story atrium with a grand lobby and lounge. Sunlight will filter through a canopy of trees. Furnishings will be in rich jewel tones such as deep red, emerald and sapphire with gold accents. There will be a water sculpture and brass and glass chandeliers. The ground level will also have high-end restaurants and retailers.
At the beginning of last year GDS Architects official site reported that they were in the early planning stage of building what will be known as the world's first invisible tower named Tower Infinity. Today GDS Architects was just granted the green light to begin construction on a sparkling new super-tall skyscraper in Seoul, South Korea. Tower Infinity will reach a height of 450 meters, placing it among the top 10 tallest buildings in the world. Designed for a location near the Incheon International Airport, Tower Infinity will also have the distinction of being 'invisible'. Using optical illusions and lighting, the tower will appear to disappear into the sky, making it a less obtrusive anti-tower. Tower Infinity will be located at the heart of the Yongsan International Business District, whose master plan was originally designed by Samoo. The "superscraper" will be a landmark project for the area, and it will serve as an iconic landmark for visitors coming from the international airport. GDS Architects won the competition to design the tower back in 2008 and just this summer they were granted permission to begin construction. The observation tower will largely be used for entertainment purposes - it will feature observation decks, wedding venues, a theater, a roller coaster, lots of restaurants, a water park, and a variety of landscaped gardens in the surrounding area. The crystalline tower is not just a vanity skyscraper though - as GDS has proposed a sort of anti-tower that blends into the sky and seems to disappear with the help of optical illusions, and lighting.
Google Inc., owner of the world's largest search engine, won local government approval to build its new U.K. headquarters next to King's Cross train station in London, reported Bloomberg. The Camden borough council unanimously approved the 85,8 thousand square meters building at a meeting on September 5. The project on 2.4 acres (1 hectare) will have a swimming pool and a running track on the roof and space for as many as 5 thousand workers, according to a filing to the borough. Google expects to move into the building, which will be seven to 11 stories, in 2015 after it agreed in January to buy the land from King's Cross Central LP , the Mountain View, California-based company said at the time. In July of this year Google unveiled images of its newest campus, a 270 thousand square meters, 11-story behemoth that will be designed by award-winning architectural firm AHMM. Construction is due to start at the end of this year and completed in 2015. About 16 stores will also be built on the ground floor of the new building. Kings Cross Central will own the shops as part of the deal with Google, according to the filing.
