Two architectural practices in North Yorkshire have merged to create a more substantial presence in the North East architecture market.

Shuttleworth Picknett Associates and DKS Architects, who were both operating from offices in Stokesley, have consolidated their resources, workload and client base.

The new business will be known as SPA Architects and will operate from Shuttleworth Picknett Associates' existing premises on Stokesley Business Park.

All staff have been retained to establish a headcount of 16 staff with a range of expertise consisting of architects, technicians, interior designer, BIM manager, practice manager and administration support.

DKS partner Martin Desmond said "The two practices were near neighbours, of similar size and very similar in organisation and culture, so discussions were straightforward and made sound economic sense.

"Each practice shared a common understanding of delivering projects in the same development sectors particularly in the residential, healthcare, industrial, education and leisure sectors, but have also been able to bring expertise in different sectors such as residential extra-care, commercial, retail and pharmaceutical design which compliments these core sectors."

Fellow DKS partner David Knudsen added: "All current projects are continuing seamlessly with at least the same levels of design skill, working drawing detail and contractor support during construction stages.

"However, we believe that going forward the levels of service we can offer will be even higher due to synergies within the combined business.

"In addition to architectural and interior design services we are also able to offer project management and principal designer services as a result of the merger."

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Stokesley architecture firms merge - Insider Media

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Apogee Enterprises, Inc. shares had a trading volume of 10K on Thursday. Overall, volume was down 94.13% under the stocks normal daily volume.

Investors are a little more bearish on Apogee Enterprises, Inc. recently if you take a look at the change in short interest. The firm experienced a rise in short interest of 2.08% as of the latest report on May 31, 2017. Short interest grew from 4,618,489 to 4,714,340 over that period. Days to cover decreased from 25.9 to 23.0 and the percentage of shorted shares is 0.16% as of May 31.

Here are a few additional firms who have increased or decreased their stake in (APOG). As of quarter end Goldman Sachs Group Inc had bought 1,195 shares growing its stake by 17.1%. The value of the investment in Apogee Enterprises, Inc. went from $375,000 to $489,000 increasing 30.4% for the reporting period. Macquarie Group Ltd reduced its position by selling 2,619 shares a decrease of 0.4% as of 03/31/2017. Macquarie Group Ltd claims 613,272 shares valued at $36,557,000. The total value of its holdings increased 10.8%.

Horizon Investment Services, LLC augmented its stake by buying 23,075 shares an increase of 152.2% in the quarter. Horizon Investment Services, LLC controls 38,240 shares with a value of $2,279,000. The value of the position overall is up by 180.7%. As of the end of the quarter State Street Corp had acquired a total of 37,383 shares growing its position 3.5%. The value of the total investment in Apogee Enterprises, Inc. increased from $56,866,000 to $65,517,000 a change of 15.2% quarter to quarter.

On July 12 the company was downgraded from to Neutral by analysts at Goldman Sachs. On June 26 the company was rated Market Perform in a report from Northland Securities down from the previous Outperform rating.

On June 15 DA Davidson held the company rating at Buy but raised the price expectation from $58.00 to $64.00. November 17 investment analysts at DA Davidson held the stock rating at Buy and raised the price target to $52.00 from $46.00.

On September 23 the stock rating was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform and a price target of $47.00 was set in an announcement from Northland Securities. Northland Securities raised the price target and upgraded the stock on September 23 boosting the price target from $33.00 to $47.00 and moving the rating from Market Perform to Outperform.

In the market the company is trading down from yesterdays close of $52.96. The company announced a dividend for shareholders that was paid on Tuesday the 25th of July 2017. The dividend was $0.140 per share for the quarter which is $0.56 annualized. This dividend amount was represent a yeild of $1.06. The ex-dividend date was Thursday the 6th of July 2017.

The stock last traded at $52.49 a tad below $55.42, the 50 day moving average and marginally under the 200 day moving average of $55.93. The 50 day moving average went down $-2.93 or -5.29% and the 200 day average went down $-3.44 or -6.15%.

Apogee Enterprises, Inc.s P/E ratio is 17.98 and market cap is 1.51B. As of the latest earnings report the EPS was $2.92 and is expected to be $3.38 for the current year with 28,848,000 shares presently outstanding. Analysts expect next quarters EPS to be $0.99 with next years EPS anticipated to be $4.18.

Apogee Enterprises, Inc., launched on July 12, 1949, is involved in the design and development of glass solutions for enclosing commercial buildings and framing art. The Company operates in four segments: Architectural Glass, Architectural Services, Architectural Framing Systems and Large-Scale Optical Technologies (LSO). The Architectural Glass segment fabricates coated glass used in customized window and wall systems comprising the outside skin of commercial, institutional and multi-family residential buildings. The Architectural Services segment designs, engineers, fabricates and installs the walls of glass, windows and other curtainwall products making up the outside skin of commercial and institutional buildings. The Architectural Framing Systems segment designs, engineers, fabricates and finishes the aluminum frames used in customized aluminum and glass window, curtainwall, storefront and entrance systems comprising the outside skin and entrances of commercial, institutional and multi-family residential buildings. The Large-Scale Optical Technologies segment manufactures glass and acrylic products for the custom picture framing and fine art markets..

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Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG) Sees Significantly Lower Trading Volume - Highlight Press

A Grand Rapids architecture firm has added 10 employees to its team.

TowerPinskter, which also provides engineering and interior design services,said this week it added the employees to its offices in Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo during the first half of this year.

The growth of our team is directly correlated with our expansion and success in the Midwest marketplace, said Bjorn Green, president and CEO,TowerPinkster.

Our new team members are essential to our strategic plan, set in place to help us broaden our reach and expand our capabilities and services.

Tom Sturr

Sturr was added to the TowerPinkster team as a senior project architect.

He has 32 years of architecture experience across the globe.

He works in government, health care, commercial development and education.

One of the most significant projects of his career was the $100-million expansion of the Nanjing Airport Terminal in Nanjing, China.

Nick Wallis

Wallis joined the firm as a architectural project coordinator.

While living in Beijing, he helped design the Nanjing Green Lighthouse.

He graduated from Lawrence Technological University.

Karl Kinkema

Kinkema joined the firmas a senior project architect.

He has more than 25 years of experience.

He works on hospital facilities, medical office buildings, sports facilities and commercial buildings.

He holds a master of architecture from the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth Slaski

Slaski joined the firmas an architectural designer.

She holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Douglas Milburn

Milburn joined the firmas a project manager.

He has 15 years of experience and is an active member in the American Institute of Architects Michigan Mentoring Network.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois.

Kyle Boston

Boston joined the firmas a mechanical designer.

He has 18 years of experience.

Angela Bowles

Bowles joinded the firmas an interior designer, returning to West Michigan from California.

She has a degree from the Art Institute of California in Sacramento.

Lindsay Gadbois

Gadboisjoined the firm as a lanscape designer, returning to Grand Rapids from Washington.

She graduated from the University of Washington College of Built Environments.

Administration

Rosa Kelly was hired as an administrative coordinator, and Nick Covey was added as an ITsupport specialist.

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Architecture firm adds to team - grbj.com

Guests attended the launch event included the following: Li Bingren, president of China Building Decoration Association, Li Hejun, Board Chairman of the Hanergy Holding Group, over 600 potential distributors and channel partners, and another 3000-odd people from local governments, industrial associations, financial organizations, as well as domestic and foreign media. They gathered together to witness the historical release of the Hantile, an upgraded-product inspired from the company's original Hanergy Civil Focusing solar products.

In his speech titled "One Tile, One Tree," Chairman Li Hejun remarked: "Hanergy took advantage of the lightness, thinness and flexibleness of thin-film solar power material and creatively integrated it with roof tile. This integration between technology and industrial products is a breakthrough in the history of construction; even more so, such creation is an innovation based on our Chinese culture."

Merging cutting-edge thin-film technology and traditional culture

"Qin bricks and Han tiles" have long been upheld in Chinese literature. From the Weiyang Palace of Western Han dynasty to the home of peasants, tiles have been considered not only as an important characteristic of Chinese architecture, but also endowed with cultural significance. To quote a famous folk saying "home is where the tile overhead", tile signifies home in the heart of the Chinese. All around us, everything is going through tremendous changes, except the material and function of tiles have remained the same, as their purposes are still simply protection from wind and rain, preservation of warmth, and decoration.

As today, the introduction of the Hantile will change all that! The Hantile, using laminated packaging technology, encapsulates a thin, light, flexible and efficient CIGS thin-film solar chip into ultra-clear float glass that not only able to maximized solar chip's conversion rate but fulfilling architectural aesthetic demands at the same time. Data shows that the current average conversion rate of the Hanergy's flexible thin-film chips used by the Hantile is 16.5% at the manufacturing level, such rate is expected to rise to 17.5% by end of the year, and such consistent growth is expected at the future.

"The Hantile highly reflects the essence of Chinese traditional culture and architectural philosophy. The choice of material and design considers practicality, incorporates aesthetic and humanistic values, and creates environmentally friendly architecture reflecting the harmony between human beings and nature. The product name Hantile is taken from and develops on Chinese culture as well as Hanergy technology," said Li Hejun.

At the event, during Mr. Li's speech, an all-in-one construction team was building a 50m2 rooftop with Hantile. About 40 minutes later, a rooftop covered with 168 pieces of Hantile for an installed capacity of 5000W had been completed and was ready to be displayed in front of guests.

Upgraded products and services and pioneering "Automatic custom service"

Current distributed solar power modules are generally installed on the surface of buildings, which cannot be part of them. As an upgraded version of these modules, the Hantile comes in three models: curved, flat and upturned C styles, which can cater to the aesthetical and individualized needs of most buildings.

In addition to integrating the thin-film solar chips for power generation, the Hantile the product series also contains accessory tiles of the same color and design to achieve consistency. As a one-stop service provider for complete clean energy solution, Hanergy provide customers with integrating consultancy, system design, installation, grid connection, user training, operation and maintenance data monitoring so on.

As a construction material, the Hantile has better performances than traditional tiles in terms of thermal insulation, heat preservation, fire prevention, infiltration prevention and hail prevention. The Hantile especially stands out with its waterproof performance because of its special design: glass material, U-type weather bar and F-type slot. In terms of structure, this product has perfect windproof and lightning protection design. It is able to generate power at a temperature from -40 degrees Celsius to 85 degrees Celsius. At present, the Hantile has received the China Compulsory Certification and the China Quality Certification, and passed installation testing, meeting all industrial requirements in term of product quality and safety.

At the launch event, Hanergy announced the market price of the triple arch solar tile as 1390 yuan/m2. Hanergy offers lifetime warranty and lifetime charged maintenance.

Hanergy's mature service system, fostered by residential power generation product and other distributed solar products, is being further upgraded. It has first put forward a service concept of "Automatic custom service," according to which all Hantile systems delivered to customers will be accompanied with an inverter data collector connected to a big data analysis platform at the Hanergy headquarters; when the operation data from the Hantile system diverge from local average data by 20%, the backstage supporter at the headquarters will issue orders for on-site repairs through its nation-wide network to solve any customer issue. All the orders and evaluations are made through the Customer Relationship Management system and the mobile APP "Hanergy Man". To further ensure its clients' interests, Hanergy also bought insurance for customers from a third party, the People's Insurance Company of China.

Strong distribution channels facing a trillion RMB market

According to data from the China Bricks & Tiles Industrial Association, in 2016, 1.01 billion m2 of tiles were sold. The market is still expanding with an annual speed of about 20%. According to the current price of the Hantile, the potential domestic market is estimated to be 1.4 trillion yuan annually. As for the global market, it is at least two times as big as China's market, bringing its potential market scale up to 2.8 trillion yuan.

The Hantile mainly targets newly-built commercial villas, urban and rural public buildings and self-built houses in rural areas. It aims at the construction of beautiful villages and towns. The Hantile is also highly competitive when it comes to rooftop reconstruction projects, such as renovating aged rooftops and turning flat rooftops into slanted ones.

Hanergy intends to share this rapidly growing market with its distributors. In recent years, Hanergy has creatively developed China's residential distributed power generation market; its specialized distributor model and system is now mature, offering a one-stop service system integrating marketing, installation and aftersales services covering all established municipal and county-level markets.

Learning from successful business models and market experiences, Hanergy gave authorization of Hantile at the municipal level under the "sole distributor in a city" channel policy. It is planned to absorb 300 distributors that will cover 90% of China's cities. Hanergy will establish its internal training system, "Hantile Distributors' College," to offer systematic training and support on marketing, design, installation, operation and maintenance and services.

Contact: Contact Person: Wang Danning Telephone Number: 0086 10 83914567 ext 3118 Cell Number: 13671129766 Email: wangdanning@hanergy.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540402/Hanergy_Triple_Arch_Solar_Tile.jpg

LHDE Hanergy Holding Group Ltd.

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Hanergy Releases Hantile to Snatch Construction Material Market Share - PR Newswire (press release)

BOSTON Commuter rail service is off to a running start near the new Boston Landing campus, world headquarters of New Balance Athletics, in Bostons Brighton neighborhood, thanks to the planning and design work of STV, a leading transportation engineering firm.

The new Boston Landing Station was designed by STV as part of an approximately $25 million public-private partnership (P3) between NB Development Group and Massachusetts transportation officials.

The station provides a vital link to the popular shoe and athletic apparel companys 250,000-square-foot world headquarters and the overall Boston Landing development, encompassing 2.15 million square feet of office/lab, sports, entertainment, retail, hotel, and residential space, including practice facilities for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics.

The station will serve customers along the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authoritys (MBTA) Framingham/Worcester Line and its opening will mark the return of commuter rail service to the Allston-Brighton neighborhood for the first time since three stations were eliminated in the 1960s to make way for the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The station is designed to provide easy access for employees, visitors and residents of the 15-acre Boston Landing development and surrounding Allston-Brighton neighborhood. The station is initially expected to serve about 2,400 daily passengers.

The completion of this station provides a vital transportation link to the overall development of Boston Landing and the immediate neighborhood, said Keith Craig, director of development at NB Development Group. We were able to make a strong finish with the help of clear communication and coordination between the design and construction team and our DOT and MBTA partners.

The station features a state-of-the art 785-foot, high-level, center island platform with two platform canopies, accessible stairs, pedestrian bridge, and glass-enclosed elevators that provide easy access to the Boston Landing campus, Arthur Street and the Everett Street bridge overpass. NB Development Group pursued the rail station as part of an overall Transit-Oriented-Development (TOD) initiative to maintain and attract a high-quality workforce along with first-in-class tenants to fill the commercial and residential components.

The addition of transit also fulfills New Balances sustainability commitment its corporate headquarters achieved the highest LEED status of Platinum and the overall campus is intended to be a first of its kind health and wellness district that focuses on fitness, sustainability, and support of the local economy.

STV has been involved with the project from the very beginning, developing the master plan for the commuter rail station and working with both the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the MBTA on one of the Commonwealths first P3 projects. The use of the P3 allows NB Development Group to create a TOD that will provide access to an expanded workforce and give the MBTA the needed resources to reinstate service to the Allston-Brighton area.

STV went on to provide extensive engineering services for the design and construction of the new station while working with the MBTA and freight rail operator CSX to keep trains moving with minimal disruption.

Founded more than 100 years ago, STV is a leader in providing engineering, architectural, planning, environmental and construction management services for transportation systems, infrastructure, buildings, energy and other facilities. The firm is ranked 40th in Engineering News-Records Top 500 Design Firms survey and 11th in its Transportation category. STV is 100 percent employee-owned.

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Rail Service Gets off to Running Start With Support From STV - Boston Real Estate Times

The Royal Institute of British Architects' (RIBA) monthly survey shows signs of a steady demand for architects in the UK. The Future Trends workload index - a tool used to measure RIBA members' confidence in the market for architectural services - changed little in May 2017, rising to +23 (up from +22 in April). London-based practices were again the most cautious about increasing workloads (balance figure +12), compared with practices in North of England (+36), South of England (+37); practices in Northern Ireland were by far the most positive with a balance figure of +50.

"The picture in May was one of broadly stable workloads rather than significant growth," commented Adrian Dobson, RIBA Executive Director Members. "The market for smaller-scale residential projects appears to remain buoyant, but some of our respondents reported a cooling of the larger-scale commercial sector market."

Practices of all sizes retained similar levels of confidence. Large practices (51+ staff) were slightly more positive (balance figure +25), with small (1-10 staff) and medium-sized (11-50 staff) practices both recording a balance figure of +23.

The private housing sector and commercial sectors were again expected to be the strongest performing sectors (balance figures of +22 and +7 respectively). The public sector forecast rose slightly but remained in negative territory at -2; the community sector forecast fell to zero, indicating no anticipated change in workloads.

The RIBA Future Trends staffing index fell in May 2017 to +7 (down from +9 in April). Large and medium-sized practices remained similarly upbeat about increasing future staffing levels (both recording balance figures of +13). Small practices were somewhat less confident but still positive (balance figure +6).

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RIBA Future Trends Survey for May 2017 Shows Signs of Steady Demand for Architects - Dexigner

Bowling Green State University located in Bowling Green, Ohio, has announced the opening of the Kuhlin Center, the first facility to be completed aspart of a $200 million master plan set in motion in conjunction with program manager, JLL. Upon completion, the overall project would add two new major residence buildings and two new dining centers, delivering next-generation teaching and learning spaces throughout the universitys revitalized campus.

In line with the academic-focused phase of the long-term initiative, BGSU will be renovating, constructing, demolishing and upgrading more than a dozen buildings across the campus. Such an example is the Kuhlin Center, which accommodates the School of Media and Communication. The facility was renovated to foster innovation and include production and broadcast studios, as well as convergence labs.

The academic-focused improvements follow the student services phase of the plan, which were completed in 2011 when JLL helped BGSU deliver more than 1,300 new beds and complete two new standalone dining centers. The projects enabled BGSU to increase enrollment and also supported the universitys financial goals by eliminating more than $2 million in budget overages.

The way students learn is evolving. It isnt just about sitting in chairs and listening to a lecture. Its about embracing new ideas, technology and collaboration. Our new and renovated studios, laboratories and classrooms are designed to shape learning experiences in hands-on ways. Partnering with JLL has helped us successfully transform our facilities and boost our campuss appeal, without wavering from our core mission of educating students, Steve Krakoff, vice president of Capital Planning and Campus Operations at BGSU, said in prepared remarks.

In line with the academic-focused long-term initiative and with JLLs support, BGSU is upgrading buildings campus-wide with state-of-the-art technology and designs.

Moseley Hall will feature modern flexible biology and chemistry labs within the 100-year-old masonry structure. The facility is set to open this fall. University Hallwill be refurbished in such a way as to preserve its architectural integrity, while providing a new focal point for admissions, student support services and learning. The building is also scheduled to be completed this fall. Hanna Hall will undergo an extensive renovation that will add cutting-edge innovation labs, active learning classrooms, collaboration spaces and high-tech trading lab.

These improvements strengthen the campus community, support a culture of collaborative learning and demonstrate BGSUs passion for enriching the overall student experience. Not only is BGSU giving students an even greater chance to develop critical professional skills, but the master plan puts BGSU ahead in the growing competition to attract the best prospective students and faculty, Jon Kolp, vice president of project and development services group at JLL, said in prepared remarks.

Additionally, BGSU has completed significant infrastructure upgrades, including a new centralized chiller plant that allows for the safe and efficient operations of multiple buildings. A second regional chiller plant is underway, along with major electrical upgrades that will support the growing demands of the infrastructure bought by modern renovations.

Images courtesy of JLL

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BGSU, JLL Carry Forward $200M Master Plan - Commercial Property Executive

27200 SW 127th Ave. in Homestead, Fla.

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. acquired a newly constructed 237,756-square-foot industrial building in Homestead, Fla. SunCap Property Group sold the facility in a $38.3 million deal, while an insurance company provided $24.8 million in acquisition financing, public records show.

Located at 27200 SW 127th Ave. on an approximately 50.4-acre site, the Class A distribution center is net-leased for 15 years to FedEx Ground Packaging System Inc. The property features loading docks, drive-in doors, interior van loading positions and more than 8,000 square feet of office space. According to public records, State Farm Insurance Co. originated the acquisition financing that facilitated the transaction. The mortgage is set to mature in July 2032.

Meridian Design Build broke ground on the facility in September 2015, with Ware Malcomb providing architectural services and Langan completing the civil design work. With this acquisition, Monmouth now owns 13 properties in Florida, totaling 1.9 million square feet of strategically placed assets throughout the state.

The Florida economy consistently ranks as one of the fastest growing state economies in our nation. The many Florida ports, including the Port of Miami, are poised to become the most substantial beneficiaries of the recently expanded Panama Canal, said Michael Landy, president & CEO of Monmouth, in prepared remarks.

Image courtesy of SunCap Property Group

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Monmouth Grabs $38M Miami-Area FedEx Distribution Center - Commercial Property Executive

Looking to the future of space exploration, there really is no question that it will involve a growing human presence in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This will include not only successors to the International Space Station, but most likely commercial habitats and facilities. These will not only allow for ventures like space tourism, but will also facilitate missions that take us back to the Moon, to Mars, and even beyond.

With this purpose in mind, an interdisciplinary team of MIT graduate students designed a space habitat known as the Managed, Reconfigurable, In-space Nodal Assembly (MARINA). This module would serve as an privately-owned space station that would be occupied by two anchor-tenants for a period of ten years; a luxury hotel that would provide orbital accommodations, and NASA.

For their invention, the team won first prize in the graduate division of the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage Design Competition Forum (RASC-AL), a yearlong graduate-level competition hosted by NASA. This challenge involved designing a commercial module for use in low Earth orbit that could also serve as a Mars transit vehicle in the future.

In the future, LEO will become home to commercial modules (like the Bigelow Aerospace B330 expandable module, shown here), will become a reality. Credit: Bigelow Aerospace

Since 2002, RASC-AL competitions have sought to engage university students and advisors for the purpose of coming up with ideas that could enhancing future NASA missions. For this years competition, NASA asked teams to develop human spaceflight concepts that focused on operations in cislunar space i.e. in, around, and beyond the Moon that could also facilitate their proposed Journey to Mars by the 2030s.

Specifically, they were tasked with finding ways to leverage innovations and new technologies to improve humanitys ability to work more effectively in microgravity. With this in mind, the themes for this years competition ranged from from the design of more efficient subsystems to the development of architectures that support NASAs goal of extending humanitys reach into space.

These included new designs for a Lightweight Exercise Suite, Airlock Design, concepts for a Commercially Enabled LEO/Mars Habitable Module, and concepts for a new Logistics Delivery System. As Pat Troutman, the Human Exploration Strategic Analysis lead at NASAs Langley Research Center, said in a NASA press statement:

We are carefully examining what it will take to establish a presence beyond low-Earth orbit, where astronauts will build and begin testing the systems needed for challenging missions to distant destinations, including Mars. The 2017 RASC-AL university teams have developed exciting concepts with supporting engineering analysis that may influence how future deep space infrastructure will look and operate.

Members of the MIT team (from left to right): Caitlin Mueller (faculty advisor), Matthew Moraguez, George Lordos, and Valentina Sumini. Credit: MIT/MARINA team

Led by Matthew Moraguez, a graduate student at MITs Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) and a member of the Strategic Engineering Research Group(SERG), the MIT team focused on the theme of creating a Commercially Enabled LEO Habitat Module. Their concept, which incorporates lessons that have been learned from the ISS, was designed with the needs of both the private and public space sectors in mind.

As George Lordos a graduate fellow in the MIT System Design and Management(SDM) Program, and a team member of both MARINA and SERG explained:

Just like a yacht marina, MARINA can provide all essential services, including safe harbor, reliable power, clean water and air, and efficient logistics and maintenance. This will facilitate design simplicity and savings in construction and operating costs of customer-owned modules. It will also incent customers to lease space inside and outside MARINAs node modules and make MARINA a self-funded entity that is attractive to investors.

To meet their goals for the competition , the team came up with a modular design for MARINA that featured several key innovations. These included extensions to theInternational Docking System Standard (IDSS) interface (used aboard the ISS), modular architecture, and a distribution of subsystem functions throughout these modules. As Moraguez explained, their design will allow for some wide-ranging opportunities.

Modularized service racks connect any point on MARINA to any other point via the extended IDSS interface, he said. This enables companies of all sizes to provide products and services in space to other companies, based on terms determined by the open market. Together these decisions provide scalability, reliability, and efficient technology development benefits to MARINA and NASA.

Another important benefit comes in the form of cost-savings. According to NASA estimates, the recurring cost of MARINA will be about $360 million per year, which represents a significant reduction over the current costs of maintaining and operating the ISS. In total, it would offer NASA a savings of about $3 billion per year, which is approximately 16% of the agencys annual budget.

But what is perhaps most interesting about the MARINA concept is the fact that it could serve as the worlds first space hotel. According to Valentina Suminia, a postdoc at MIT who contributed to the architectural concept, the space hotel will be a luxury Earth-facing eight-room space hotel complete with bar, restaurant, and gym, will make orbital space holidays a reality.

Other commercial features include serviced berths that would be rented out to accommodate customer-owned modules. This goes for the stations interior modularized rack space as well, where smaller companies that provide contract services to on-board occupants would be able to rent out space. Would it be too much to ask that it also has robot butlers?

The RASCAL competition began in August of 2016 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and concluded on June 2nd, 2017. The top overall honors were awarded to the teams from Virginia Tech and the University of Maryland for their space habitat concepts, known as Project Theseus and Ultima Thule, respectively.

Further Reading: MIT, NASA

By Matt Williams - Matt Williams is the Curator of Universe Today's Guide to Space. He is also a freelance writer, a science fiction author and a Taekwon-Do instructor. He lives with his family on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia.

Featured, human space exploration, In-space Nodal Assembly (MARINA), Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Managed, mission to mars, Reconfigurable, Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts-Academic Linkage (RASC-AL), the moon

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I Wonder if it has Room Service? Here's the Space Hotel that Won a ... - Universe Today

The RIBA Future Trends Workload Index was little changed this month at standing at +23 in May 2017, up marginally from +22 in April.

In terms of geographical analysis, practices in Northern Ireland (balance figure +50), the North of England (+36) and the South of England (+37) were the most optimistic about medium-term workload prospects this month. Continuing the trend of recent months, practices in London (+12) remained by some margin the most cautious about future workloads.

Analysing the May data in terms of practice size, large practices (51+ staff) returned a balance figure of +25. Small practices (1-10 staff), with a balance figure of +23, and medium-sized practices (11-50 staff) also with a balance figure of +23 were just a little less positive, but all size categories of practice on balance anticipate some growth in workloads over the next quarter.

In terms of different work sectors, the private housing sector workload forecast (+22) increased slightly in May 2017, but the commercial sector workload forecast (+7) was down a bit. These continue to be the two most strongly performing of our sector forecasts.

The market for smaller-scale residential projects appears to remain buoyant

The public-sector workload forecast recovered some recently lost ground, rising to -2 but remaining in negative territory. The community sector forecast saw a significant fall, down to zero from +6 in April.

The RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index dipped a little further this month, falling to +7 in May from +9 in March.

Large practices, with a balance figure of +13, and medium-sized practices, also with a balance figure of +13, both remained quite upbeat about future staffing levels. Small practices continued to be a little less confident, with a balance figure of +6.

Commentary received this month from our participating practices continues to suggest a broadly stable market for architectural services and solid ongoing demand for qualified staff.

Overall the picture is one of relatively steady workloads rather than significant growth. The market for smaller-scale residential projects appears to remain buoyant, but some of our practices are reporting a cooling market in the larger-scale commercial sector.

Adrian Dobson is executive director members at the RIBA and the author of 21 Things You Wont Learn in Architecture School. A full copy of the RIBA Future Trends Survey monthly report is available online.

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RIBA report: Private housing sector leads a steady market - Architects' Journal