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Hill, the family-owned developer, is to donate 200 homes for the homeless - a financial commitment of more than 10million - to mark the companys 20th anniversary.
The extraordinary donation, which is beginning with up to 20 modular homes in Cambridge, is borne out of the personal experience of Hill CEO and founder Andy Hill.
In 1999, when he had a young family, he was made redundant. The family feared they would lose their home.
Instead, he set up and began growing the business, which has flourished, and now has more 10,000 homes currently under construction or in the pipeline, including the Athena development in Eddington, Ironworks in Mill Road in Cambridge, and Marleigh, the new community being created on Marshall land off Newmarket Road.
Andy said: Homelessness is a growing crisis which I feel very passionately about and it is particularly bleak at this time of year.
Life-changing events affect us all in different ways and over the years I have learnt to appreciate it can affect more than those who come from deprived backgrounds in the first place.
After celebrating our 20th year of building homes at Hill, I want to give something back and create real opportunities for people who are living on the streets, to help turn their lives around.
The whole business is taking huge pride in delivering these initiatives, and while we will not solve the problem today, we are taking a big step in the right direction which we hope others will follow.
The pods being prepared to help tackle the homelessness problem in Cambridge are a kind of modular micro-home, or pod, which come factory-made and fully furnished, with white goods, soft furnishings, bedding and even plates and cutlery.
Other homes will be sited in London and Oxford, where Hill also operates.
The company will work in partnership with local authorities or housing associations, which will assume responsibility for maintenance and repairs, and with homeless charities on its initiative. Once ready, Hill will hand over the properties to one of the partners to manage the rehoming process.
Emma Fletcher, a director at Hill and lead for the delivery of the Foundation 200 homes project, said: Our pledge is to help rehome the homeless we are stepping up to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Gifting homes in this way has never been done before, so we are currently in the process of creating the blueprint and working out all of the details on a site by site basis with local charities, housing associations and local authorities on how to deliver these homes.
At last Wednesdays Cambridge City Council housing scrutiny committee, 140,000 was approved to facilitate the legal and practical arrangements for up to 20 pods, which can be relocated if required.
Potential sites for the pods have been identified in Abbey, Arbury and Kings Hedges wards, the council said, but precise locations have not been given.
The council said they are very small sites that have proved difficult to develop to date.
Mr Hill added: While we are only at the initial discussion stages of this initiative, conversations with Cambridge City Council are progressing well and the council have now put forward two suitable sites.
We are currently reviewing the number of homes which can be delivered on these sites and planning applications will be submitted shortly. We have been really touched by the amount of goodwill this project has brought in; everyone wants to help and get involved.
A council officer said an awful lot of work has gone into the design of the pods. Discussing the size of the pods, the officer explained that engagement with people who have slept rough suggested in some cases as a stepping stone from a hostel or a difficult environment towards independence, a smaller unit is sometimes what people are looking for.
A support network and pathway to a permanent home will still be provided, the officer confirmed.
Claire Flowers, the head of the councils housing development agency, said: We see this as an opportunity to meet housing need and provide more housing in the city relatively quickly, and at a lower cost to the council than providing them ourselves.
Hill, which is delivering the initiative through a newly-formed charitable trust called Hill Group Foundation, intends all 200 of the homes to be completed and inhabited within five years.
They will have a 60-year life expectancy and be arranged in small groups, with no more than eight on one site and none higher than two storeys.
Additional reporting: Ben Hatton, Local Democracy Reporter.
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Hill CEO: The personal experience thats driven me to donate 200 homes for the homeless in 10million gift - Cambridge Independent
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FOREST LAKES The Forest Lakes Metropolitan District Board of Directors will ask voters to weigh in on moving the districts office from Bayfield to Forest Lakes, one of La Plata Countys largest subdivisions with about 800 homes..
For months, the board has been mired in debate. The office relocation has sparked disagreements over budget priorities in the district, board statues and relocation project planning.
In my mind, (the vote) is the totally right thing to do, said Keith Roundtree, district manager. We are using the publics money, and they should have a say on how their money is being used.
The district currently rents office space in Bayfield. Last year, the Feasibility Study Committee found a modular building and foundation would cost about $265,000 to be paid over 15 years. Rent over 15 years would cost $359,000, the committee said. The new office would be at the entrance of the neighborhood.
If approved, the board plans to fund the project through a loan. The issue must be on the ballot because the Taxpayers Bill of Rights, or TABOR, says voters must approve any indebtedness that goes beyond 12 months, according to the district attorney. The measure would go on the ballot during special district elections, May 5.
Discord on the boardDuring recent months, the board and community members have disagreed over how to plan and fund the project.
Last year, the board voted to move the office based on a rate analysis, then disagreed about whether the analysis provided enough information.
During meetings, board members disagreed on vote outcomes and which statutes they were following to make decisions. In one meeting, residents and the board debated the project for 45 minutes.
Board members Dave Sheetz and Robin Kissell said residents will save on overall costs by building a new office in Forest Lakes. We put facts, figures and a cost analysis together and proved that it would be cheaper to own than it would be to rent, Sheetz said. Also, the current landlord kept his option to sell the property and did not guarantee the district a long-term lease, he said.
Other members, including Shauna Unger, Toby Schrier and Brien Meyer, have questioned the project. Unger said it would be irresponsible to tie up funds in the relocation project while Forest Lakes has other large capital projects to consider, like replacing dam infrastructure and aging snowplows, or funding a sewer system project that could cost millions.
Im not opposed to moving, I just dont think this is the right time, she said.
Meyer, board treasurer, said he would consider the idea if he had enough information. The initial cost analysis did not include moving expenses, utility expenses, maintenance expense, a line-item budget explaining the modular building cost estimate or other financial information, he said.
I find it very unfortunate that were making these big decisions and our manager doesnt have the information, said Meyer, who voted against the ballot measure and was absent for the boards first vote approving the project.
Race against timeNew district staff members are racing to learn their roles, get the district organized and provide information to the board.
Roundtree said the staff is working to establish a detailed cost estimate for voters before ballot language is due in March. The initial cost estimates were based on a floor plan, but those estimates did not reflect requirements for office sizes, architectural standards or the building site, he said.
He has requested proposals for conceptual designs for stick-built and modular buildings. The district will review the proposals, conduct cost comparison and negotiations, then use the final cost estimates on the ballot.
This is going to be speed-tracked in order to get this done, Roundtree said. I feel what were doing now is the proper way to do business.
smullane@durangoherald.com
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Forest Lakes residents to vote in May on office move - Pine River Times
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EVAC CENTER. The evacuation center at the compound of the Old Tanauan City Hall houses hundreds of locals affected by the recent eruption of the Taal Volcano on Friday (Jan. 17, 2020). The Quezon City government has provided the evacuees with modular cubicle tents. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)
MANILA Families affected by therestive Taal Volcano has climbed to 103,443 or equivalent to 394,094 persons in the four Calabarzon (Region 4-A) provinces, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported.
In its 6 a.m. update Monday, the NDRRMC said 38,377 families or around 137,447 persons from the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and Quezon, are temporarily sheltered in 532 evacuation centers while the rest are staying with either friends or relatives and being aided outside.
NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad on Sunday said residents living outside the 7-kilometer danger could return to their homes after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Sunday lowered the alert status of Taal Volcano to 3 from 4, two weeks after it erupted on January 12.
The lowering of the alert status enabled local government units to allow some of the evacuees to return to their homes.
Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas has given residents of towns and cities in the province, except Agoncillo and Laurel which are still under lockdown, an option to return to their homes or work.
Towns, where residents have an option to return, are Alitagtag, Balete, Cuenca, Lemery, Lipa City, Malvar, Mataas na Kahoy, San Nicolas, Sta. Teresita, Taal, Talisay, and Tanauan City. The volcano island remains under permanent lockdown.
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Number of families affected by Taal eruption now over 103K - Philippine Canadian Inquirer
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Mayor Kennedy Stewart and Housing Minister Selina Robinson refuse to predict whether the citys annual homeless count in March will show an increase or decrease in the number of people living without a home.
But both politicians say they are working together to secure land, build more homes and find housing for the citys homeless, including having 3,500 new homes underway or completed in Vancouver since 2017.
Their efforts come despite more than 2,220 people counted last March as homeless in Vancouver. It was the biggest population recorded since counts began in Vancouver more than a decade ago.
I dont know that weve turned the corner yet, said Robinson, when asked by the Courier at a news conference Monday about what the numbers will reveal after the citys homeless count this year.
Stewart wouldnt speculate whether this years homeless population will see a dramatic shift either way in the numbers. But the mayor urged the federal government to fulfill its promise to reduce chronic homelessness in Canada by 50 per cent by 2027.
The federal government really has to do more, he said, noting hes made that clear with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
The mayor, however, admitted the city fell short of its rental housing targets last year, particularly the type of housing affordable to lower to middle-income people.
Stewart had also hoped last year's addition of temporary modular housing sites for homeless people would see a drop in homelessness, but it didn't.
Stewart and Robinson made those comments at a news conference to kick off construction of a 102-unit affordable rental home project on Southwest Marine Drive, near Ontario Street.
The project will see 20 homes go to people with annual incomes of no more than $26,000 per year. Another 51 homes will go to households who earn $25,000 to $73,000 and 31 homes to households with incomes of up to $113,000.
The New Chelsea Society will manage the 102 homes, which will be spread over two six-storey buildings, with studios and one, two and three bedroom homes targeted to families and seniors.
The provincial government is funding the project and the city donated the land, which used to be residential property. The land is worth about $22.7 million.
Robinson said such a project helps reduce homelessness by adding more housing for people currently in supportive housing which, in turn, opens up space for people living on the street.
Supportive housing is housing that gives tenants access to health care and counselling as they stabilize from a life lived on the street, or in other precarious living conditions.
The minister used her opening remarks to criticize the previous Liberal government and accused them of ignoring the housing crisis and as a result, they were leaving people behind.
Homeless count statistics show there were 1,364 people counted in 2005. That statistic rose to 2,223 people in last Marchs count.
Robinson said it was important to understand the state of homelessness in B.C. when the NDP-led government took power in 2017.
She pointed out the governments temporary modular housing program, which saw 605 units built in Vancouver, eliminated the Sugar mountain homeless camp in the Downtown Eastside.
The program had the same effect in other parts of the province, including in Surrey, where a strip in Whalley was notorious for homelessness and drug use.
Weve made significant inroads and theres more to do, which is why our government is committed to building thousands more of the modular supportive housing, Robinson said.
The mayor, meanwhile, said he will travel to Ottawa next month to continue lobbying the federal government for more housing money and to respond aggressively to the opioid crisis.
The high price of housing coupled with the fentanyl crisis, he said, is creating a deadly combination for the citys most vulnerable. The mayor continues to push for a safe supply drug program for chronic drug users.
Im being listened to, Im getting the meetings, Im getting the calls, Im getting the visits, Stewart said. That makes me feel like were very close.
mhowell@vancourier.com
@Howellings
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Vancouver mayor, housing minister won't predict this year's homeless population - Vancouver Courier
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Whilst the extraction of marble itself is fraught with its own environmental issues, one studio is looking to ensure each and every slab is being used to its full potential. Salvaging off-cuts, discarded and imperfect slabs from construction sites, factories and homes around London, Marble.Partners are bringing a circular mindset to an industry where waste has previously been left unused.
Marble mining can be very damaging to its surrounding environment often causing an extensive accumulation of Calcium and Magnesium compounds in the soils, sediments, water and vegetations within the area as well as being a non-renewable resource. However, while it is still being utilised within interior design and construction, it is important to ensure we are getting the most usage from each slab reducing the need as much as possible for new marble.
Sculpture pieces by Marble.Partners who salvage off-cuts from construction sites and factories ... [+] around London.
Celebrating imperfections as part of the story from each piece, they bring together a patchwork design to tabletops, art pieces and sculptural forms. Founded in 2018 by partners Mia Castenskjold and Stefan Zschernitz and their co-founder, sculptor Klaus Weiskopf, the team were driven by a personal endeavour when looking for a dining table for their own home. They realised large marble tables were extremely expensive and the cost of moving them between locations was often a logistical nightmare.
Klaus Weiskopf, Stefan Zschernitz and Mia Castenskjold - founders of Marble.Partners.
After researching into the industry further and witnessing the waste from each factory they came into contact with, they realised improvements needed to be made. Each piece they create is designed with functionality in mind and tabletops are split into modular sections to ensure transportation is as convenient as possible.
With a long-term desire to work with quarries at source, where most of the wastage occurs, the studio decided to start in London focusing on the waste they could get their hands on easily. Building direct relationships with nearby factories, they began creating a range of show-stopping designs with a signature patchwork aesthetic made up of various off-cuts.
Modular candlesticks and vases are created with the off-cuts from their own studio too.
Giving each slab they find a new lease of life, regardless of its condition, Castenskjold states they like to celebrate the diversity found in the varieties of marble used. With Weiskopf bringing his talent to the workshop, they also create sculptural art pieces alongside the furniture designs. Over the past year the team have put a huge effort to ensure their own production produces as minimal waste as possible. Their own offcuts are hand-crafted into bespoke candlesticks and vases as well as looking into ways to reintroduce the marble dust into the production cycle. This mindset is allowing them to think outside the box and brings a fresh perspective to the industry, which others need to take note of.
Their signature patchwork aesthetic celebrates the diversity and imperfections found in different ... [+] varieties of the salvaged stone.
Looking forward further into 2020, Castenskjold is excited about what the future holds. Disrupting an age-old industry is a challenge, when altering mindsets steeped in tradition, but they are positive that change can take place. 2019 was spent on investigating, prototyping and identifying where we can make a difference. states Castenskjold, This year we are launching our first functional art exhibition in March, so we are currently deep in production. At the end of last year, the studio completed a prototype of a chair for client which encouraged their bigger mission to create functional art pieces. We didnt envision the chair to be particularly comfortable, Castenskjold continues, but it actually turned out to be a lot more functional than we had predicted.
This functional art piece was created by the studio for a client last year.
While sustainability is strong part of their ethos, the team explain how they want to remain known for the beautiful work they create with the focus on reducing waste being an inherent function of the studio. They are extremely conscious to ensure each aspect of the business represents their values and they have been working closely with a hemp farm (Margent Farm) to develop packaging using the natural material. While still early in the development stages, the team say the journey has been very inspiring so far with a strong desire to set new boundaries within the furniture logistics sector.
The team's meticulous attention to detail ensures each off-cut stands out but complements those ... [+] around, creating a narrative which users can connect with.
The merging of sustainability as an inherent mindset within the brand, with the aesthetic of each piece taking centre stage, is key for designers who want to succeed. Producing an end result for clients which is of incomparable beauty and quality ensures the desire for each piece is maintained, while the conscious production of it underlies each design as a crucial but subliminal message.
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The London Design Studio Making The Most Of Marble Waste - Forbes
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Talk about eco homes and some may expect to see unusual designs and baffling heating systems. But the reality is quite different. We take a look at some of Nottinghams greener homes
When The Hockerton Housing Project started life nearly 25 years ago the techniques they were using in their earth sheltered homes on the outskirts of Southwell were ground-breaking - installing wind turbines, solar PVs, recycling waste material.
It may have taken many years, but the systems and principles of the project - building homes that use minimal energy and have little environmental impact - are finally spreading.
Private owners, builders and councils around the country are adopting various eco measures for some of their latest projects. Air and ground source heat pumps, high levels of insulation and solar panels are just some of the features that are now increasingly being used in Nottinghamshire homes.
The City Council has already installed solar panels on more than 4,000 council houses and has plans to roll-out the pioneering Dutch housing system, Energiesprong, to create net zero carbon homes. The plan proposes to make use of untapped heat from water in disused local mines, look into ways to ensure new buildings have sustainability features and aims for high energy efficiency standards for homes on council land.
While the council has its sights on tackling climate change - based on its pilot scheme in Sneinton of 10 refurbished homes - over at Blueprints Trent Basin site, private ownership low energy homes are being built alongside a Community Energy project - a pioneering renewable energy storage system.
The project team, which includes a large consortium headed by the University of Nottingham, created what is the largest Tesla community battery in Europe and the first in the UK.
The responsible developer anticipates using other technologies in its forthcoming project, The Elms, where it aims to include air source heat pumps (a heating system that draws warmth from the air). The firm is also currently researching the possibility and feasibility of building Carbon Positive Homes.
Nottingham based modular house builder, Positive Homes has launched its latest development of energy efficient new homes at The Newlands in Fernwood, Newark.
Nine, three-bed modular houses, all with an energy performance certificate (EPC) rating of A are currently being built. These homes will have solar panels, LED lighting, high levels of insulation and mechanical ventilation as standard.
Manufactured off site in a factory, the modules are delivered to the development, lifted into position and then joined up with the other modules and roofed, laying the guttering and commissioning the power services inside.
Build time is much quicker on a site of this type. For instance, modules were delivered to the Newark site on Monday, January 13, 2020 and the firm aims for a mid-February completion.
Martin Valentine, CEO of Positive Homes said: "We are passionate about building energy efficient, sensibly priced homes at a time when the climate change agenda is at the forefront of everyones minds.
"These new builds in Newark, like all our houses, are a revolutionary design that will not only help save money, but also make a perfect home for first time buyers hoping to get onto the property ladder."
A mid-terrace is priced at 175,000 and end-terrace at 180,000.
But eco saving measures arent restricted to new build homes. Theres a wave of homes in Nottingham undergoing eco retro fits.
Gil Schalom, principal at GSD Architecture, which specialises in ecoficient design, has turned older housing stock into Passive, near Passive and energy efficient homes.
A Passive house (or Passivhaus) is an ultra-low energy building that requires little energy for space heating or cooling. It is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency.
Gil says that many people, when looking to improve or extend their existing home, regardless of its age, are now very conscious of both the environmental and monetary benefits of doing this sustainably.
He says that even if they cant afford to carry out a whole renovation project at one time, they are looking to carry out stepped renovation. Taking a fabric first approach, and making sure each step is to the best standard possible before embarking on the next element, when they have perhaps saved up another pot of money.
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With clients across the county and beyond he has undertaken renovation to a near passive house level in West Bridgford and a Certified Passive House renovation in Cheshire.
One West Bridgford homeowner, who had commissioned Gil to extend as well as undertake a whole house energy refit, added what Gil calls The icing on the cake - a green roof. A living roof planted with sedum and native flowers and herbs.
Home owner Tim Saunders said: We have always wanted to have a warm, cosy and energy efficient home, with low energy bills and to be able to power it using renewable energy at least in part, so that is what we set out to achieve working with Gil.
"We already had solar panels and the opportunity to secure some grant funding, which was available at the time, kickstarted us into getting the insulation installed and that was also the perfect time to replace the ageing windows with new triple glazed ones.
"Gil then drew up very detailed plans for the extension to provide a larger kitchen and dining room space which we did to a very high standard of energy efficiency working with experienced builders to provide a very comfortable home."
A mechanical ventilation and heat recovery was also included in this deep energy efficient retrofit.
Tim added: "The green roof over the extension is ever changing with each season providing year round interest, it slows the runoff of rainwater and is awash with bees in the warmer months this was the perfect opportunity to create my own piece of wildlife habitat."
These homes are only a snapshot of what is changing in the housing industry right now and potentially there are exciting innovations innovations and changes ahead as technologies become more available and affordable.
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The homes in Nottingham that are helping to tackle climate change - Nottinghamshire Live
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This is yet another example of why we need a diverse combination of public and private investment to address the UKs housing crisis.
Under changes to the PWLB rate, local authorities will pay more on borrowing next year.The change is being widely reported as a move to detertheir aggressive acquisition of commercial real estate but, as Hill notes, a significant amount of the 12bn borrowed by LAs last year was funnelled into housing and regeneration projects.
A rise in the PWLB rate is likely to affect the extent to which LAs are able to invest in housebuilding and regeneration. And although in the general election campaign the Conservatives pledged to build one million new homes by encouraging private sector housing, the provision of low-cost, accessible homes remains a pressing need.
It is estimated that 8.4 million people are affected by the housing crisis, living in unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable homes, or are homeless. Shelter has said that three million new social homes must be built in England over 20 years to solve the housing crisis.
Given the scale of this issue, we need to access as broad a pool of capital as possible and we should think of new ways in which fast-growing alternative finance and private investment can be committed to support accessible housing developments. For instance, allowing LAs to channel funds through alternative finance platforms would see the money go directly to developers to help them build the homes the country so urgently needs.
In addition, private investment could be promoted by policies such as tax breaks for individuals lending to accessible housing developers or relaxing the rules around pensions and SIPPs to allow private pension holders to include such loans in their portfolios.
Property developers are turning to all manner of creative solutions, such as an array of modular housing and modern methods of construction, to try and speed up housebuilding. We should be similarly innovative and resourceful in seeking the right funding mix, to allow these urgently needed housing developments to be built as quickly as possible.
Roxana Mohammadian-Molina, chief strategy officer, Blend Network
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Housing requires diverse investment | Insight - Property Week
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You just need to walk through Croydon town centre to see that it is changing very rapidly.
With building sites all over the place it can be hard to keep track of projects that are underway.
So as we enter 2020, weve rounded up the big projects which have already started or are in the pipeline and will change the face of the town the most in the coming decade.
The area next to Fairfield Halls, which reopened to the public in September, is set to completely change in the next few years.
The Fair Field Masterplan which was granted hybrid planning permission back in 2017, is expected to see 400 new homes, shops, office space and public spaces come to the area.
But Croydon College sold the former School of Art building meaning plans for this part of the scheme have been submitted separately.
Part of the plan is to create a public square as well as a link for pedestrians to access the town centre from Barclay Road.
This was the former headquarters of Croydon Council, which is now based in Bernard Weatherill House on the other side of Fell Road.
Construction by HUB started in May 2018 and the building has gone up quickly in the past few months.
Work is expected to be completed in 2021 and as well as a 35-storey tower, there will also be 21, 19 and 13-storey buildings constructed as part of the major development.
It will be made up of more than 500 flats, of which 40 per cent are set to be affordable.
The Nestle building is currently being converted to look like three three tower blocks of 288 flats.
It is part of 500 million plans to redevelop St Georges Walk into a public square outside Croydon Town Hall from Chinese developer R&F Properties.
In November 2018 offices, including the Fairfield Business School, opposite the town hall were demolished.
A walkway underneath formed part of St Georges Walk and businesses left on the other side of it say they are struggling since the area has become a building site.
Approved by Croydon Council back in December 2015, these plans from Optivo to build more than 100 new flats are due to be completed this year.
The 25 million development will offer 113 new flats at shared ownership or affordable rent.
The tower is close to West Croydon Station.
The worlds tallest modular building went up in an incredibly quick 35 weeks last year.
The two towers of 44 and 38 storeys can be seen near East Croydon Station.
The project from Henderson Park and Greystar is made up of 546 build to rent homes.
Modules were made at a factory in Bedford before being transported to Croydon and slotted onto a central tower. They even include pre-installed kitchens, bathrooms, plumbing and wiring.
It is set to be ready to open in May, with 50 builders working on the finishing touches floor by floor, including painting and floor fitting.
It is expected that a decision will be be made on proposals to build more than 800 co-living flats in a part 49 part 34 storey block from Tide Construction. The same company behind 101 George Street.
The co-living model would see each room being on average 27 square metres with a small kitchenette and en-suite bathroom
Residents would have access to a range of communal spaces, including a kitchen and dining areas.
The plans include a second tower of 120 flats.
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6 big things set to change the face of Croydon in the 2020s - MyLondon
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Each years CES is overrun by concept TVs that are destined to either remain prototypes for years to come or be released with such high price tags that they might as well not have come out at all. And look, Im not going to try to claim that CES 2020 was much different. Samsung had a weird rotating 4K TV meant to show off vertical videos, 8K TVs were still just as pointless as ever, and LG Display showed up with another rollable TV that descends downward rather than rising upward.
But if you look a little closer, youll see some real progress among the TVs people might actually buy. The more important story from each years show is in the often-overlooked midrange, and that happened in a big way at CES 2020. High-end technologies trickled down after years of being unaffordable or impractical for most people, while the slow emergence of the new HDMI 2.1 standard is beginning to open up a lot of functionality that was previously exclusive to niche sections of the market.
OLED TVs are a good example of high-end tech entering the midrange. Just a few years ago, they were unaffordable for the vast majority of people, but last year, we started to see LGs sets getting discounted to that all-important $1,000 mark, which is the upper price limit for 90 percent of buyers, according to NPD sales data. Even then, OLED TVs were still only available in bigger TV sizes, presenting another barrier to entry for many households.
At CES 2020, however, we saw signs of change. Vizio, which has a strength in affordable TVs, announced that it will be releasing an OLED model this year, while Chinese manufacturer Skyworth said it plans to enter the US market for the first time with an OLED TV in tow. Meanwhile, LG and Sony, which have been producing OLED TVs for years, announced 48-inch versions, making it the first time weve seen 4K OLED TVs under 55 inches in size. Pricing for all three models is yet to be announced, but all the signs point toward the technology inching toward mass-market affordability and accessibility.
Also continuing to emerge at this years show is the HDMI 2.1 standard, which is important not so much because of its topline specs (such as support for 4K at 120Hz or 8K at 60Hz), but because of the new features it brings to the table. Features like variable refresh rate technology will be a massive benefit for gamers once game consoles catch up, while others, like support for Dynamic HDR, will deliver picture quality improvements for TV and film content.
These features arent completely new. Variable refresh rate tech has been available on PC monitors for a few years, while Dynamic HDR is available via the dynamic metadata baked into the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ standards. But HDMI 2.1 has the potential to one day turn these into basic, standardized TV features. In theory, you wont have to make sure you buy certain models of Samsung TVs to pair with your Xbox One or LG TVs to pair with your Nvidia-equipped gaming PC to get variable refresh rates. Instead, you should eventually just be able to mix and match HDMI 2.1 devices to get these benefits as standard.
Thats the theoretical future, and at CES 2020, were seeing TV manufacturers inch toward it. Vizio says its made the upgrade across its lineup, while LG and Sony have confirmed support in their 8K models. But weve still got a long way to go before you can take all of HDMI 2.1s features for granted. TV manufacturers are allowed to pick and choose which of the standards features they support, and a lot of them are currently doing exactly that. In a rundown of Sonys A8H 4K OLED, for example, HDTVTest notes that Sonys latest 4K OLED will support just one of the HDMI 2.1 standards many features: eARC. Weve still got a long way to go before HDMI 2.1s benefits become ubiquitous.
Beyond the devices coming this year, CES is also a show where you get a glimpse of what TVs might look like in a few years time. Samsungs 8K Q950 (aka its bezel-less 8K TV) is a prime example. Thats not because it has an 8K resolution, but because the idea of a TV with barely there bezels seems both highly desirable and almost inevitable, given the way TV designs have been going. Not to mention the fact that manufacturers have already gotten very good at almost eliminating screen bezels on smartphones to the delight of consumers. Throughout the week, the worst thing Ive heard people say about the Q950 is that they wish its bezel-less design was available on a 4K TV, which feels like a good sign for its wider demand.
8K TVs made yet another appearance at this years show. The jurys still out on whether the new resolution is the future of TVs, but everyone can agree its definitely not the present. That was true last year, and its still the case today where 8K content is more or less nonexistent, not to mention very bandwidth-intensive to stream. In fact, with LG and Samsung now involved in a minor proxy battle over how exactly to measure 8Ks roughly 30 million pixels, it almost feels like weve taken a step backward over the past 12 months.
Personally, Im still unconvinced that 8K is even necessary in the first place. 4K has already given us a massive resolution bump over 1080p, and even then the more important improvements were less about the resolution itself, and more about the technologies it bundled together like HDR, a wider color gamut, and increased color bit depth. Maybe one day 8K will find its own collection of picture performance enhancements, but Im skeptical that the resolution justifies the upgrade by itself.
But that hasnt stopped manufacturers from announcing 8K TVs that youll be able to buy this year. LG had a grand total of eight of its Real 8K models to show off, ranging in size from 65 to 88 inches, Samsung has three 8K series that range in size from 55 inches to a massive 98 inches, which includes the aforementioned bezel-less Q950, Sony has the Z8H (75 or 85 inches), and even TCL reiterated its plans to launch the 8K TV it originally announced last year. Impressive feats of engineering these TVs may be, but ultimately, its still not time to buy one.
The final TV technology that sits in this maybe its the future, but at this point, its hard to say category is microLED. Samsung announced new sizes of its microLED TVs this year, but they didnt make as much of a splash at CES 2020 as they have previously. It might have something to do with the fact that this is the third year weve been able to gawp at The Walls modular panels on the show floor and the first since they actually went on sale. We know the technology works, and we know the tech could theoretically offer a best-of-both-worlds compromise between OLED and LCD, but Samsung is yet to prove that it can manufacture these TVs and sell them for the kinds of prices that mortals can afford, not to mention at the sizes that actually fit in most peoples homes.
Finally, I suppose its only fair to mention the rolling and rotating TVs of CES 2020. Bezel-less, 8K, and microLED TVs have a chance of one day actually becoming mainstream devices, but Id be very surprised if the same thing happens to a TV like Samsungs Sero, which has a mechanical stand that can rotate its display 90 degrees to better show off the kinds of vertical videos that youll find on Instagram or TikTok.
Cast aside the fact that the TV is limited to being just 43-inches big to give itself enough room to rotate, and try and forget that it currently retails for a 1.95 million won (around $1,600) in South Korea, and just think about how long your typical vertically shot video is. Theyre made for mobile, theyre super short, and the idea of cozying up in front of your TV to watch them feels bizarre to me. I like the creativity, but I just cant see the design being useful.
Contrast that with LGs rollable TVs, which I really want to work but feel completely out of reach right now. LG is, once again, promising to release its rollable TV this year, but remember that it made a similar claim last year before going completely silent for 12 months. If and when it does release, there are also reports that it could cost as much as $60,000, which doesnt do much to shift the perception that this is a consumer release in name only.
CES is a show filled with press events and keynotes that are, almost to a fault, obsessed with the future of technology. But away from the flashy concepts and presentations, the TV industrys high-end past is slowly but surely merging into its mainstream present. When manufacturers start announcing firm pricing over the coming months, well see how much progress theyve made.
Correction: A previous version of this article said that dynamic metadata is a feature of the Dolby Atmos standard. Its actually a feature of the Dolby Vision standard. We regret the error.
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TVs at CES 2020: a year for the mass-market - The Verge
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (PRWEB) December 04, 2019
The Casita is a uniquely designed 1,070 square foot 2-Story home that features a spacious open first floor layout with living room, kitchen, nook and powder room. On the second floor there can be 1 to 2 bedrooms with a full bathroom and a laundry area.
To complement the exceptional design of The Casita, the home features airy 9 first floor ceilings with large casement windows and transom windows above for lots of natural light. The energy efficient tankless gas water heater doesnt eat of valuable space, and along with the recessed LED lights, helps reduce monthly utility bills. The recessed front entry and 14/12 gable peak adds dimension and curb appeal to the exterior of the home that would fit into any community or neighborhood. The kitchen is modern and well-appointed with a center island, tall pantry cabinet, 42 wall cabinets and modern stainless-steel appliances.
The second-floor master bedroom is spacious and perfectly sized with a large closet, as well as private entry to the bathroom. The bathroom features a full tub/shower combo with a large double bowl bath vanity and separate door to the hallway. The homebuyer has the choice of doing one or two bedrooms on the second floor and both options provide space for a second-floor laundry area.
For more information The Casita from Manorwood Homes, visit: https://www.manorwoodhomes.com/casita.
About the Modular Home Builders Association:The MHBA is the only national non-profit trade association exclusively serving the modular home industry. Each month the association selects a home from its members to highlight the advantages of modular construction. For more information on MHBA, modular homes, and the monthly contest, please visit http://www.modularhome.org.
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The Casita by Manorwood Homes wins Modular Home of the Month - PR Web
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