Donna Sofa Sets Shop, San Francisco, CA (2026)

01/05/2018

Curtain rising soon on long-awaited East High theater renovation
In a long-sought transformation designed to please performing arts lovers both inside and outside of East High School, district contractors are entering the last month of a top-to-bottom rebuild of the school’s theater.

The $4.7 million project, which includes about $250,000 in community donations, will expand and radically improve the space, with added or improved features including enhanced lighting, far superior acoustics, a new orchestra pit with a cover, better dressing rooms and storage, and the addition of a 136-seat balcony. The renovated theater will have 610 seats, up from 494.

“There’s not a bad seat in the house,” said Chad Wiese, facilities manager for the Madison School District, who promises the work will be finished by the start of school. “If I’m picking a seat, it’s the balcony. It’s pretty spectacular.”

The stage itself also will be redesigned and bigger, with 8 more feet on the apron, and a new “fly system” — the assemblage of rope lines and pulleys that enables the crew to move curtains, lights and scenery on and off the stage — overhead with a major upgrade from manual to automated for improved safety and efficiency. A soaring, polished-wood arch also stretches over and around the sides of the stage, adding visual grace.

“The East theater establishes a new standard for what we want these spaces to look like in all the high schools,” district budget director Mike Barry said.

The renovation also will make the entire theater fully handicapped-accessible, with a wheelchair lift and eight wheelchair-accessible seats, and it will add one large, multipurpose room off of the theater for drama classes.

Outside community theater groups — long pressed to find affordable performance space on the East Side for productions — also will get a chance to use the theater, coordinated with school use and perhaps a year after students and staff at the school get comfortable with it.

“We’re in new territory,” said Paul Milisch, East High’s drama and creative arts teacher, who also directs all theater performances. “We need some time to learn the equipment ourselves and to learn how to use the space and how to make that bridge to the community.”

Funded mainly as part of a $41 million facilities referendum in April 2015 to expand or renovate 16 district schools, the project at East High has been a source of growing excitement and nostalgia among students, staff and alumni going back several decades.

Principal Mike Hernandez said he’s fielded calls from graduates living all over the country each time he’s updated the school’s page with construction news or sent out emails about the project’s progress.

“This is the beginning, the centerpiece, of our community-based school,” Hernandez said. “It’s about the pride it’s exuding, from our students to our alumni to our community. This is going to bring some serious pride back into the building and back into the community and to all (East High) Purgolders, future and past.”

Pride was likely not the main emotion inspired by the old theater for most, especially in its last few decades.

Built in 1924 during the school’s second addition, the theater/auditorium was reconfigured in 1970, during which it lost some space to new classrooms and saw its original chairs replaced with the hard, orange-plastic, ‘bowling-alley’-type seats so many would grow to loathe.

“Our old theater was falling apart,” said Elsa Ackerman, an incoming senior who’s been part of the school’s award-winning drama club, Eastside Players, since her freshman year. “The chairs were uncomfortable, the acoustics were awful and many things were old and decrepit.”

Most recently, it’s also been a source of dislocation and inconvenience, as hundreds of students and staff members who still needed the theater — not just for plays but also performances by several school bands, chorale groups and orchestras, plus school-wide meetings and awards ceremonies — awkwardly straddled the months of construction that shut it down starting in May 2016.

Of the five plays Ackerman has been in at East, only two were performed in the old theater, with the others having to go on in the school’s field house and at the Bartell Theater on Mifflin Street. Rehearsals for those plays typically were held in classrooms, she said, with at most a few days to practice in their final performance space.

“It will be great to have a theater we can rehearse and perform in, so actors can really get to know the space they will be performing in,” Ackerman said. “I am so excited for the new opportunities the renovated theater will bring, and the history East’s actors will create in it.”

Milisch said a big goal of the renovation was to improve the “audience experience” in the theater.

He said the challenge of putting on good shows in a space hampered by poor sound and lighting, and by chairs that “make your back cramp up after 30 minutes,” was like “swimming with sand bags on,” predicting the new chairs and redesign would please audience and performers alike.

“Part of it is just bringing that physical comfort, and also it’s having a venue that matches the (advanced) work these students are doing,” Milisch said. “The performers are going to have a quite a bit better experience.”

East Theater
They’ll also have more to do. In March, for the first time in many years, East High is putting on a musical, as one of the two main-stage productions the drama club does every year, plus a one-act play for a statewide contest.

The redesign’s much improved sound system — the old one was “like my boom box from 1991,” Hernandez quipped — made a musical worth doing again, staff said, along with the laminated-wood “wave clouds” added to the theater’s ceilings and side walls for sound quality.

“It’s a great opportunity to bring something new into the new space,” said Luke Hrozat-Staedter, a vocal teacher at the school who will direct the music for the musical.

“I’m just excited to have a space where everything is running smoothly, electrically and sound-wise,” he added. “It’s going to be a welcoming space for students to perform in and we won’t have all the headaches. Stuff isn’t going to just break on us at the last second.”

Persephone Bates, a member of the school’s show choir who will be a senior this fall, did admit to some fond memories of performing in the old theater.

She remembers sharing with friends “a lot of inside jokes happening behind the scenes,” she said, as well as the building of anticipation while she waited to go on stage.

What she won’t miss?

Tripping on piles of costumes and stacks of wood under the stage in the dark, Bates said, and sitting on those uncomfortable chairs.

The redesigned layout of the new theater will have better and safer spots for storage of props and costumes, and of course, the new seats, to be installed later this week, will be cushioned.

What Bates relished most was the prospect of being part of the first senior class to use the renovated space.

“Just to perform on it with a lot of my peers, and to have the stage all to myself at some point,” Bates said. “I’m very excited for the performance opportunities.”That was a sentiment seconded by Hrozat-Staedter, a Madison West High School graduate who remembered participating in the theater at that school as adding something intangible to his experience as a student.

“It was more than just a classroom to me,” he said. “It was a place where I was able to thrive and grow. Having a space that’s new and that has systems in place to support our students will only improve their education.”

01/01/2018

6 Seater L Shape Corner Sofa Set

12/29/2017

Renovation versus New Construction and Building Decision Tool for Educational Facilities

12/27/2017

Renovating a Bathroom? Experts Share Their Secrets

New bathrooms don’t come cheap.

The average cost of a midrange bathroom renovation — replacing all the fixtures, the tile, the vanity and the toilet — is now almost $19,000, according to Remodeling magazine, which tracks the cost of home improvement projects annually. And that’s the nationwide average. If you live in New York City, count on spending closer to $25,000.

If you’re planning a high-end remodel that involves moving fixtures and installing amenities like heated floors, it will cost you more than $60,000 on average — and in New York City, upward of $72,000.

Still, there are ways to keep costs down. Interior designers and building professionals offered some tips on how to save money without sacrificing style.

And instead of edging it with a border tile, she substitutes polished aluminum trim by Schluter to hide unglazed tile edges. It starts at about $8 for an eight-foot-long metal strip at Home Depot, she said, and offers “a clean, timeless look.”

LOOK FOR LEFTOVERS Don’t pay for an entire slab of granite when all you need is a small piece to cover the top of a vanity. Stone fabricators like SMC Stone in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and BCG Marble and Granite Fabricators in Hackensack, N.J., often sell remnants.

The same goes for tile: Dawn DeLuca, a principal at Camille Rossy Cabinetry & Design, said she looks for closeouts at stores like Tiles Unlimited in Glendale, Queens, and on sites like Tilebar.com, where overstocked and discontinued lines are sold for as much as 80 percent off. Ms. DeLuca added that it pays to ask about closeouts at any remodeling store you happen to visit. “Don’t be shy,” she said. “If you see a showroom changing displays, run in! They will be happy to sell display models at steep discounts — everything from vanities to toilet bowls.”

And don’t forget about Craigslist, where contractors and do-it-yourselfers often sell surplus. One recent listing offered 84 Bianco Carrara marble subway tiles for $50 with the following message: “Accidentally purchased what we needed in sq. ft. instead of linear ft. … oops! Selling what we didn’t need at half price.”

LOSE THE MEDICINE CABINET “I opt, whenever possible, for a decorative mirror instead of a medicine cabinet,” said Kelly Giesen, the founder of Kelly G Design in Manhattan. “A mirror adds style to the space and opens up a wide choice of price options. You can also go as big as the room will support, so the space ends up looking bigger and more grand.”

HIT THE FLEA MARKET Ms. Giesen recently found a small iron table for $125 this way, and plans to use it as a sink console. “The style is unique and special,” she said. “And perfect for a bath, without breaking the bank.” Just be sure to measure your flea market finds before buying, to ensure they’re the right height, width and depth for your bathroom.

CONSIDER THE COST OF LABOR “Most people think about saving on material,” said Raf Howery, the chief executive of the home-remodeling site Kukun, but they forget that labor can account for as much as 40 percent of the overall budget. Keeping the bathroom layout the same, so you don’t have to move the plumbing, and “choosing products that do not require a huge amount of installation labor,” Mr. Howery said, are some of the best ways to keep costs down.

Cindy Albert, a designer at New Life Bath & Kitchen in Santa Maria, Calif., offered an example: Instead of spending $1,400 on tile for a recent bathroom renovation, she spent $2,000 on wall panels from Kohler’s Choreograph line. The panels cost more, she explained, but because they took less time to install, her client saved about $2,500 on labor.

AVOID “BUILDER GRADE” FIXTURES “Builder grade” and “contractor grade” are marketing terms for the most basic fixtures in a product line. And in this case, you get what you pay for: They tend to be made of less durable parts and can “scratch and wear more quickly,” said Leonard Kady, an architect in New York. Investing in a higher-grade fixture may cost more up front, but it could save you money in the long term. You may not see the words “builder grade” on the box, Mr. Kady added, but “salespeople will let you know, as a point of comparison.” Another clue: “The higher end tends to be heavier and feel solid.”

KEEP IT SIMPLE The number of handles required to operate the temperature and flow of the water in your shower and tub may not be high on your list of renovation priorities, but all those parts add up. “More valves equal higher costs,” Mr. Kady said. A pressure balance valve with a single handle to control both the water temperature and flow is often cheaper than a thermostatic valve with two or more handles. “Each valve has to be separately installed, and plumbing pipes have to meet those valves, which adds labor costs,” he said. “That’s why fewer is better.”

When it comes to finishes, standard polished chrome is typically less expensive than other options. Kohler’s Bancroft valve trim and handle in polished chrome, for example, sells for $244. The same model in brushed nickel costs $355.

And if you have your heart set on an expensive material like marble, consider using it as an accent rather than covering the entire bathroom in it. That’s what Ma**ca McKeel, the founder of Studio MM, a Manhattan architecture firm, suggested when her client fell in love with a $20-a-square-foot marble tile and “had to have it” wall-to-wall in a large bathroom. Using the marble on the floor, and a simple white subway tile in the shower, “not only saved our client more than $1,600,” Ms. McKeel said, “it allowed the marble tile to stand out and become the star of the show.”

12/26/2017

Renovation versus New Construction and Building Decision Tool for Educational Facilities

Renovation of an existing building is an accomplished stem of the construction industry because it supplies financial diversification for construction stakeholders. Although several construction planning tools and stakeholder alignment exercises have been developed, no tool exists to assist project owners to decide between renovating an existing building and new construction with a comprehensive decision criteria. The objective of this research is to create and test a renovation versus new building support decision tool for construction project stakeholders. The renovation versus new building support decision tool was created based on an extensive review of existing support tools and construction industry needs. The created tool was implemented to evaluate decisions of educational facilities by university officials experienced in project management. Results show the tool was effective in identifying relevant topics for discussion and guiding a group of stakeholders through an exercise in decision-making. Specifically, the tool was implemented by construction management personnel for university facilities currently under construction to evaluate the decision to renovate an existing building or new construction. The main contribution of this research is a framework and support decision tool readily implementable for construction project stakeholders desiring to determine if renovation or new construction is the optimal path for their specific objectives.

Renovation of an existing building is a successful branch of the construction industry because it provides financial diversification for construction stakeholders [1]. Building owners are often challenged with deciding between new construction and renovating an existing building to achieve their desired scope [2]. This complex decision can impact the overall project budget, schedule, and quality.

Previous research efforts have identified that support is needed for construction decision-making [3]. Several tools and activities have been created to assist construction stakeholders when planning and making decisions [4, 5]. However, none of these tools specifically support construction project owners tasked of selecting either new construction or renovation of an existing building. The objective of this research was to create a decision-making tool that supports construction project owners to aid in determining between renovating an existing building and new construction. The scope of this project included all construction-related ventures in which some information is known about the project purpose and project owners are deciding between renovation of an existing building and new construction.

A review of a sampling of construction decisions support tools was conducted, specifically tools implemented for project planning. Reviewing findings were used to create a renovation versus new building decision tool. This created decision tool was implemented to evaluate recent “renovation and new construction” decisions made by a university concerning educational facilities. A subsequent discussion of the analyzed research findings, encountered benefits and limitations, and envisioned future research work for decision-making support in the construction industry follows.

During a recession or decreasing economic situation, the construction industry often transitions from new construction projects to renovating an existing building [6]. The construction industry has utilized renovation projects as a method of diversification to remain profitable during a down economy [1]. Project owners are often required to decide between renovation of an existing building or new construction.

2.1. Support for Decision-Making
It has been theorized that decisions are a function of a person’s resources, goals, and orientations [7]. In general, decision-making is a complex process due to unforeseen events, risk, and uncertainty [8]. Many tools, criteria, and processes have been created to support theoretical and applied decision-making. For example, the analytical hierarchy process provides a structured system for analyzing complex decisions which has been implemented in many industries [9]. This process has been used in many capacities including topography changes [10] and contractor selection [11]. Other created analytical tools implement planning matrices to optimize decision-making outcomes [12].

Education administrative personnel over facilities and project management have benefitted from decision-making support tools. This includes the creation of an optimization database to collect and analyze teacher inquiry and reflection concerning student data [13] as well as the implementation of a school-wide positive behavior support evaluation tool for trending student behavior [14]. The success of a school or school district can be linked to decisions made by administrators [15]. The rational model and bounded rationality model have been implemented to support decision-making by school administrators [15]. School boards in Michigan integrate analytical decision-making optimization to determine the demand for educational facilities based on community surveys, demographic data, and selected local plans [16].

2.2. Construction Project Decision-Making
A multitude of research conducted by the construction industry and academics has contributed to decision-making processes and prediction models for construction. Dominant factors in the decision to renovate or build new construction include investment cost and future market value of the existing building [17]. Due to the economic implications, several processes and decision tools have been developed to guide and support stakeholders during decision-making. These processes and tools enable construction project stakeholders to align on specific requirements and support the personnel during a decision-making process.

One such area that requires complex decision-making in construction project planning is sustainability, specifically energy consumption [18, 19]. Energy consumption in existing houses was explored to understand why individuals decide to renovate their utilities [20]. Various decision criteria (e.g., exterior building materials) were evaluated in regard to life cycle implications of building renovations and new construction [21, 22]. In general, renovation-based strategies were found to have less of an environmental impact when compared to newly constructed houses with similar characteristics [23]. Four complex decisions were evaluated for an individual planning to optimize the investment of sustainable renewable options for a house including maintenance only, renovation options with minor improvements, transformation with major adjustments, and a new building option [24].

Unlike operational energy as previously discussed, embodied energy occurs during the construction phase of a building [25]. The embodied energy makes up a considerable part of the total energy use in buildings [26]. Considerable amounts of energy are spent in the manufacturing processes and transportation of various building materials [27, 28]. Several decision support tools have been created to measure the environmental impacts of embodied energy including life cycle assessment of environmental impacts of building materials [29], optimization mapping of transportation [30], and specialized tools considering environmental impacts only to commercial buildings [31].

Many tools have been developed to provide performance-based assessment models of various building characteristics. For example, a rating model tool was created to measure the heat loss through external windows and walls [32]. Other energy assessment tools have been implemented to predict monthly energy uses of an individual building [33]. Tools have also been created and implemented regarding building safety. One such tool simulates a fire evacuation drill for building occupants to validate acceptable escape paths and durations [34].

In addition to sustainability elements, stakeholders are often tasked with deciding between renovation and new construction for historically significant buildings. Older building renovation can be more aesthetic and culturally significant but often cost much more than newly constructed buildings with the same desired function [35]. Sociological researchers strive to preserve historical buildings as a means to better understand the logics of movement of a people group and conserve a collective memory of a community [36].

Although renovations of historically significant buildings are in high demand, structural engineers often encounter costly design challenges [37]. The balance between historical significance, building functionality, and economics presents unique challenges when deciding between renovation and new construction. Several research and private sector efforts have focused on improving renovation techniques for historically significant buildings including using timber-concrete composite structures to renovate historical wooden floors [38], an appraisal method to capture energy efficiency improvements from building renovation [18], and techniques to model human dynamic loads on structural floor vibrations of historical buildings [39].

2.3. Construction Project Scope Decisions
Construction project stakeholders typically decide between renovation and new construction during the initial scope planning phase. Developing a project scope for design includes many challenges including stakeholder alignment, defining the intended goal of the project and budget constraints [40]. The success of construction projects is largely dependent on the agreement of project stakeholders on the project scope [41, 42]. Managing uncertainty and aligning stakeholder interest during this scope planning phase are critical for stakeholders to determine if they desire to renovate an existing building or new construction [3].

2.4. Construction Project Decision Support Tools
Because of the uniqueness of construction projects and potentially complex scopes, many project decision support tools have been created and implemented by construction industry. Specifically, project decisions tools geared towards renovation have been implemented in an attempt to empower stakeholders to manage complex issues. An automated model with a complex set of interdependent attributes was created to measure the functional condition of building before and after a planned renovation [43]. A more specific decision model evaluated the anticipated energy performance improvement of a newly renovated office building [44]. Many other similar models were created for decisions within the realm of renovating an existing building including semiautomated selection of renovation alternatives [45], multicriteria “knapsack” model for renovation [46], and multicriteria renovation decision-making models [47, 48]. These decision support tools only address building renovation elements and do not assist in decisions between renovating an existing building or constructing a new one.

2.5. Research Needs Statement
Project stakeholders are required to evaluate many criteria when deciding to renovate an existing building or to build new construction including economic success, intended functionality, and historical significance. Although a multitude of construction support decision tools and processes exist, none address the complexity of deciding between these two project scopes. The reviewed renovation decision models address only renovation and are often too ill-defined to include elements of new construction. A need exists for a decision support tool for stakeholders determining between renovation of an existing building and new construction.

3. Materials and Methods
Based on the results of the review and the stated research objective, the following steps were devised and completed: (1) review of existing construction planning decision support tools, (2) identification of decision support tool criteria, and (3) design decision support tool. These steps served as the methodology for creating the renovation versus new building support decision tool. This section provides details for each step in the research methodology.

3.1. CII Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI)
Past research efforts have produced strategies and devices to support construction planning decision-making. A multitude of these research deliverables were investigated for their benefits and limitations with regard to construction stakeholders making decisions. Some of the most used tools are shown in Table 1 with their objectives and limitations.

The Construction Industry Institute (CII) created a decision support tool called the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) which attempts to align stakeholder interest and accurately define the project scope during the preplanning phase [52]. This tool uses a weighted checklist of 64 scope definition elements for stakeholder evaluation of the given project [52]. By using this tool, project stakeholders can identify and communicate areas of uncertainty before construction begins [53]. The success of the PDRI can be measured by the outgrowths of PDRI tools for specific categories including the PDRI for sustainable building projects [54].

Several iterations of the PDRI have been completed to broaden the scope of the PDRI concept and to refine the process. CII has framed the PDRI for building projects and industrial projects [49]. Principles of front-end planning were also established for renovation and revamp projects by CII [55, 56]. Research findings and corresponding best practices from both CII’s PDRI and work in front-end planning established the foundational elements for the created renovation versus new building support decision tool.

3.2. Criteria for Decision Support Tool
A set of criteria for the decision support tool was identified based on the results of the construction planning decision support tool review. To compile the set of categories for the decision support tool, existing construction planning decision support tools were reviewed as discussed in the previous section. All criteria relevant to deciding between renovation of an existing building and new construction were included. Users of the tool are able to modify existing decision criteria or add new criteria as needed for their specific project. Project metrics, such as cost, are represented in terms of level of effort. Each criteria category provides a definition of level of effort for scoring the metrics.

The following sections were identified to assist in deciding between renovation of an existing building or new construction: (1) planning, (2) facilities management, (3) project requirements, (4) site considerations, and (5) project design parameters. The categories were identified based on the review of existing construction planning decision support tools and review by three experienced university facilities construction personnel. All criteria elements were divided into categories in an attempt to increase the effectiveness of the tool and to foster discussion among similar topics between the project stakeholders. Each of these categories has between four and six specific categories for evaluation by the tool users. Table 2 presents a description of each category and potential elements to be evaluated within the planning section. The project stakeholders will discuss each category and score their perceived level of effort for either constructing new or renovating an existing building for each individual category. For example, members using the tool will estimate if the overall level of effort for project validation, category 2, will require more effort if a new building is constructed or if the existing building is renovated.

12/26/2017

Three Seater Sofa Beige And Brown

* Material: Fabric And PVC
* Color: Beige And Brown
* Style: Contemporary
* Upholstery Material: Fabric
* Filling Material: High Density Foam
* Frame Material: Hard Wood
* Three Seater Sofa Height: 34.4 inches (86 cm), Length: 73.6 inches (184 cm), Width: 33.6 inches (84 cm)

12/25/2017

With Lionel corner sofa set, you can make your room look more spacious as it efficiently uses the available space. This l-shaped sofa adds an inviting and warm style to your living room. If you have a bigger room then you can complement this corner sofa by placing ottoman or a lounge chair, providing extra space for guests to sit and relax. To make the maximum use of the corner in the living room it is best to choose Lionel corner sofa set. Since it perfectly fits in the available space and gives a cheerful and pleasant atmosphere to your room.

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