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Best House Design in Australia 2023: Design Institute of Australia

The winners of the annual Australian Interior Design Awards were crowned on June 2, and they provided endless home interiors inspiration. Run by the Design Institute of Australia and Architecture Media’s Artichoke magazine, the awards celebrate Australian properties across, residential, commercial and public sectors, the result of work by leading design experts. “Following the challenges of recent years, the Australian design and architecture industry has evolved and responded to its changing landscape to deliver innovation, beautiful and inspired projects across all sectors, reshaping the parameters of design and creativity for the 2023 Australian Design Awards program,” reads a press release…
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Transforming Traditions: Winners of 2021 iF Design Award and Their Extravagant Interior Designs

Courtesy of iF Design Awards Share Share Facebook Twitter Mail Pinterest WhatsApp Or https://www.archdaily.com/965407/transforming-traditions-winners-of-2021-if-design-awards-and-their-extravagant-interior-designs A room, a life. Nowadays we spend most of our time in closed spaces. Ideally, they should suit us and be conducive to our well-being. Furniture, décor, lighting, colors, patterns, and fabrics all have an effect on us, although an unconscious one. Be it playful elegance, rekindled tradition, or simple functionality, what mainly counts where interior architecture is concerned is the purpose for which a room is to be used. The iF DESIGN AWARD 2021 winners’ designs create totally new styles for very different needs and…
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A composition of stacked masses and voids, this house by AANGAN Architects draws on traditional typologies for a house full of light and spontaneity

Surat, India Located in Gujarat’s diamond hub, Surat, India, The Breathing House by Vishal Shah and Vishal Desai of AANGAN Architects features unique in-between spaces that maximize light and breezes. The Breathing House in a “ફળીયા” sits on a 300-square-meter plot within a residential neighborhood. The design of this linear house in the traditional village street now engulfed by urban development is an attempt to create a balance between the traditional lifestyle of the user as well as their modern aspirations. The heart of the house is a court punctured in the center of this linear space which brings in…
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IKEA to double its in-house design department

“At IKEA, we want to offer desirable and affordable designs to customers around the world. But people´s demands and expectations change with time, and we need to develop too, to stay relevant in our offer continuously. For many years, as we grew our business and entered new markets, we kept our in-house design team roughly the same size. We see now, with our current expansion plans and movements to deliver to our vision of creating a better everyday life for the many people, it´s time to invest and add more in-house design competence to meet these needs and ambitions”, says…
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Apartment buildings in rural areas often denied renovation loans | News

Many rural municipalities have managed to improve the energy performance of public buildings. However, banks usually refuse loans for renovating old Soviet-era apartment buildings, with KredEx the only lifeline for associations. Of the 300 apartment buildings in Järva Municipality, only about twenty have been renovated. According to Triin Tippi, head of the local government’s economic department, the issue is not a lack of willingness by the owners but rather that rural residents simply lack the funds to insulate their homes. “Many apartment buildings actually have construction projects ready and waiting. But when the cost per square meter, per apartment or…
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Normal Public Library announces alternate location during renovations

NORMAL — Normal Public Library will close its 206 W. College Ave. location to the public at 5 pm March 30 in preparation for the upcoming asbestos abatement and renovation project. The 206 W. College Ave. location will remain closed for the duration of the renovation project, which is expected to take 10 to 12 months. The library board of trustees previously approved a $5.1 million bid from Broeren Russo Builders Inc. of Champaign to start work as early as April 8. Access to library collections and services will be moved to a branch office in the former Busey Bank…
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Milwaukee County Zoo penguin habitat groundbreaking, renovation

Zoo breaks ground on new penguin habitat Construction has broken ground on the renovated Humboldt penguin habitat at the Milwaukee County Zoo. MILWAUKEE – Construction begins this week on the renovated Humboldt penguin habitat at the Milwaukee County Zoo. To kick off this project, the zoo hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday morning, March 27. The penguin habitat project is funded in part by a $3.5 million grant through the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Tourism Capital Grant Program that the zoo received in 2023. Funding for the program was provided by the State by the American Rescue Plan…
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Ocean City’s New Capital Plan Includes $30M. Renovation of Police Station

An architectural rendering depicts the renovated public safety building. (Image courtesy of Ocean City) By DONALD WITTKOWSKI Ocean City unveiled a nearly $160 million, five-year capital plan that includes flood-mitigation projects, road construction, improvements to the Boardwalk, the dredging of local waterways and a $30 million renovation of the antiquated public safety building. At the same meeting of City Council on Thursday, a presentation was given on the proposed 2024 municipal budget – a $110.1 million spending plan that includes a 3.7-cent increase in the local tax rate. The tax increase will mean that the owner of an average Ocean…