Raisng the profile of IronmongeryDirect

Along with regular coverage in DIY Week and Builders Merchant News, we have been putting forward IronmongeryDirect to the broader business press as ‘one to watch’ with the exciting growth it has achieved, and how it is making this happen.  This has included arranging interviews and compiling Q&As which has resulted in coverage in Real Business magazine, Catalogue E-business and Marketing Week as well as issuing business results and updates, and newsjacking.

Taranta, An Office To Create

When you think of an office, you don't normally realise how different it would look from floor level.

The fascination in the Red Town Office (Shanghai, China) of architecture firm Taranta Creations lies exactly in this difference of perspective.

The building originally hosted a metal factory, and the distance between the structure and ceiling was far too small to accommodate a modern office layout of floor and tables.
Hence the beautiful design, including four working stations placed in the space between the steel profiles. This transforms the floor into a continuous desk, inviting the designers to use the open space for sketching, brainstorming, planning, drawing, modelling and generally creating their new projects. Productive and beautifully informal.

Read more on ArchDaily.
Images © Shen Qiang / Shen Photo

Porcelains & Energy Plants

This building definitely has a strong Dutch taste, in a beautiful blend of old and new.

It is a new Combined Cycle Energy plant (CHP) in Roombeek, Holland. Its core function to provide light and heat to the city - hence its name, Stadshaard (Dutch for "city hearth").
To celebrate this building's identity, architecture design firm Cie collaborated with artist Hugo Kaagman to tile it in an iconic Delftware style.

It is a touch of tradition, which makes Stadshaard the largest delftware artwork in the Netherlands.
Following their original use, the tiles depict scenes (and you can see a sample in the images) that communicate the function of the building.

The result is charming. Read more.

Murcia: Lifetime Tickets and Car Strip Tease

After investing on its new tram system, the city of Murcia, Spain is going very far in committing to public transportation.

Attempting to reduce congestions, Murcia is offering a lifetime pass to its tram transportation in exchange for its citizens' cars. Any working car can qualify, old or new, it is sufficient to register and trade in the vehicle.
Far beyond many other cities' attempts to promote bikes or car shares, this initiative has an interactive side too - and it is ready to go viral.

The exchanged cars are used as art installations, creating a sort of car strip tease by disassembling them slowly.
For every comment on the project's Facebook or Twitter accounts, a part of each car is removed and broadcasted on webcam. The installations themselves represent the hassle of, say, finding parking and are placed even on top of each other. Until they "disappear" that is.

A great initiative, read more on InHabitat.