Apartment Look

Provident Realty and the Baccuses hired O'Brien Architects to design the planned retail, restaurant and office development . "The goal is to create something iconic both architecturally and as a sense of place," said Mick Granlund, vice president at O'Brien Architects. "We have planned the site to incorporate and build upon an existing grove of beautiful trees." Office towers, hotel Early plans include three office towers of eight to 10 floors, a boutique hotel and more than 50, 000 square feet of retail space to be constructed along Spring Creek. "There are a lot of good brands for restaurants and retail that are now highly aware of Legacy, but they couldn't get into that market," Backes said. "We are giving the retailers and restaurants high visibly while still keeping the walkable, urban environment ." The retail buildings will be clustered in a park-like campus just south of the planned high-rises. "We have the capacity t...

The long retail spine of Sydney Road, Brunswick, just north of Melbourne's CBD, was once a prosperous trading outpost on the way to the goldfields. These days it's a bohemian mix of variety stores, op shops, halal butchers and Lebanese bakeries. Take a side street to the west, however, and a different picture emerges. Sandwiched between Sydney Road and the Upfield train line is an area undergoing rapid and widespread transformation. Light industry is fast being replaced by mid- rise apartment buildings , their inhabitants attracted by the short commute into town and cheaper prices than in the city's south-east. The quality of these units is, on the whole, depressingly bad; think poor ventilation and bedrooms that "borrow" natural light (a weasel word for being dark and windowless). The occasional jazzy façade tries feebly to make up for otherwise cheap construction amid a chorus of greys. At ground level, carpark roller doors alternate with mean pocket garden...

The long retail spine of Sydney Road, Brunswick, just north of Melbourne's CBD, was once a prosperous trading outpost on the way to the goldfields. These days it's a bohemian mix of variety stores, op shops, halal butchers and Lebanese bakeries. Take a side street to the west, however, and a different picture emerges. Sandwiched between Sydney Road and the Upfield train line is an area undergoing rapid and widespread transformation. Light industry is fast being replaced by mid- rise apartment buildings , their inhabitants attracted by the short commute into town and cheaper prices than in the city's south-east. The quality of these units is, on the whole, depressingly bad; think poor ventilation and bedrooms that "borrow" natural light (a weasel word for being dark and windowless). The occasional jazzy façade tries feebly to make up for otherwise cheap construction amid a chorus of greys. At ground level, carpark roller doors alternate with mean pocket garden...

Iranian NGO Bavar , disabled activists are pushing for better recognition of their rights" class="blkBorder img-share" /> At the offices of Iranian NGO Bavar , disabled activists are pushing for better recognition of their rights The chaotic, impenetrable streets of Tehran have left Navid, a multiple sclerosis sufferer , feeling like a prisoner in his home. Even for the able-bodied, the uncontrolled building spree of recent years means the Iranian capital can often seem like an assault course of narrow broken pathways , gutters full of rushing water, and cars shoved into every available inch of space. For the thousands of disabled people in Tehran, the hilly streets are effectively a no-go zone. "My companions are the four walls around me. I'm so tired of staring at the ceiling," said Navid Salahi, a 30-year-old who is confined to a wheelchair after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a child. "I'm afraid to go outside on my own. It...