Virginia Tile Company, a leading provider of porcelain, ceramic, stone, glass, metal, and mosaic design solutions headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, recently announced a strategic partnership with Marazzi Tile to expand its distribution responsibilities to Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Western Pennsylvania. The territory expansion and collaboration with the U.S.-based, Italian-owned ceramic manufacturer became effective as of August 1, 2023. “We are…
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The Euclid model
The Great Lakes ecoregion has stood witness to the passage of time as marsh, dune, and forest habitats expanded and contracted, economic engines of industry rose and fell, and the growth of city populations surged and declined in cyclic fashion. While stalwart, its composition of freshwater sand dunes, sandstone cliffs, pebble beaches, limestone bedrock, and wetland basins have felt that…
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New space to thrive
Ghafari Associates LLC, a global architecture and engineering firm, announced Nov. 3, 2022 it will hold an official grand opening of its new space in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. The private event is a celebration of the newly renovated 8,500-square-foot office space overlooking Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids, featuring design inspiration from the firm’s…
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Jackie Koo, AIA, IIDA, LEED AP, NOMA
Founder, Owner, Principal KOO | Chicago, Illinois In architecture, as in literature, arts, and other social sciences, there is a wealth of traditions, movements, applications, and analyses—avant-garde, thought-provoking, and otherwise—that have shaped their respective fields throughout time and have challenged scholars and practitioners alike to consider the world and communication around them anew. For many, architecture is a form…
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Freshwater future
As a collective of fresh water that houses more than 20 percent of North America’s freshwater volume, the Great Lakes hold a unique status among American waterways. They require special consideration and treatment, especially in the face of climate change’s adverse effects. While the Great Lakes have a long, natural history of water level fluctuation, recent levels signal a decidedly…
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Energy strategies
At its 7th Annual Michigan Energy Summit, the Michigan Battle of the Buildings program announced 2020’s award winning sustainable organizations and businesses. The awards and recognition program highlights energy-use reduction and efficient practices across Michigan’s commercial, industrial, and multi-family buildings each year. Since the start of pandemic, especially, commercial building owners and managers have needed to adapt with significant changes…
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Ford Airport’s operations center
On June 30, 2021, the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan broke ground on a new $7.7 million operations center that will house key teams such as operations and communications, dispatch, and a new emergency operations center, or EOC. The 11,600-square-foot facility will streamline daily activities and day-to-day management at the airport, as well as serve as…
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Merging of vision
Since their founding in 1991 and 2002, respectively, the firm of KTGY Architecture + Planning and the interior design group of Simeone Deary Design Group have built rich project and service portfolios based on their singular approaches to space and experiential design, and comprehensive work ethics that leave no detail unturned. KTGY is a primarily multi-family residential and mixed-use design…
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TURF-Noble partnership
From its Chicago headquarters, TURF Design Inc., an acoustic commercial products designer, is reimagining interior health through its minimal yet sophisticated acoustic solutions and their sustainable properties. Foundationally, TURF exists to fight disturbing, open space echo by creating visually stunning ceiling baffles and wall panels from pre-consumer PET plastic that are manufactured on-demand to keep inventory waste low. In a…
