Sou Fujimoto’s Tree-like Tower in Montpellier

Laurence Grigorov, as director of a residential property development company, keeps abreast of international architectural designs for residential development projects that the company is involved in locally. Laurence Grigorov has been developing luxury residential projects in Johannesburg, South Africa for nearly 15 years and is highly influenced by modern design trends.

Balconies fan out like leaves from the mixed-use L’Arbre Blanc tower, which Sou Fujimoto has completed in Montpellier with Nicolas Laisné, Dimitri Roussel and OXO Architects.

Modelled on the shape of a tree, the curved 17-storey building contains 113 apartments with cantilevering balconies, alongside publicly accessible facilities on the ground floor and rooftop. This layout was designed by Fujimoto, Laisné, Roussel and OXO Architectes to “reinvent the tower block”.

According to the studios the shape facilitates interaction and encourages residents to embrace the outdoors – nodding to Montpellier’s tradition of outdoor living.

L’Arbre Blanc, which translates as White Tree, was the winning design of Montpellier city council’s Folie Richter competition in 2013 that asked for a “modern folly” to “enrich the city’s architectural heritage”.

Fujimoto, Laisné, Roussel and OXO Architectes chose to collaborate on the design in recognition of their shared belief that architecture should evoke natural forms.

The 113 apartments in the L’Arbre Blanc tower each face a different direction, and all have their own balconies. Some of the balconies cantilever to over seven metres, and the duplex flats feature two that are connected by stairs. Intended for use as external living space, these encourage residents on different floors to interact.

On the ground floor of L’Arbre Blanc, there is a public art gallery lined with glass walls that opens out to a newly extended park along the Lez River. Meanwhile, at the top of the tower a rooftop bar with a panoramic garden allows the public to enjoy views of the city, alongside a more private common area for residents.

Fujimoto is a Japanese architect and founder of Sou Fujimoto Architects, established in 2000. He describes L’Arbre Blanc as a “springboard for [his] work in France”.

Words & image courtesy of www.dezeen.com

11 Popular Fitness Myths Debunked

As director of a leading real estate development company based in Johannesburg, Laurence Grigorov is involved in all aspects of the development process of these complex projects.

In order to relax and unwind, Laurence Grigorov enjoys exercising and in particular training at the gym. This is important for a healthy work-life balance.

With all the health, fitness, and nutrition information you could ever possibly need just a Google search away, it’s amazing that there are still so many myths about what goes on in your body and your mind in pursuit of better health. Too often, though, more information leads to more confusion, not less.

Jose Antonio, PhD, CEO of the International Society Sports Nutrition and a researcher at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, puts the following common misconceptions to rest. RIP, bro science.

Myth 1: High-Protein Diets Are Bad For Your Kidneys

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. In contrast, here at Nova Southeastern, we have data showing that if you’re a trained male bodybuilder and consume 3.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (four times the RDA), you’ll experience no harmful effects to your kidneys, liver, or blood lipids.

Myth 2: High-Protein Diets Leach Calcium From Your Bones

This myth about high-protein diets says that consuming too much of it can make your bones brittle and weak. We have done studies up to six months in length that looked at the effect on the bones of women who consumed 2.5-3.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (about three times the RDA). We found no decrease in bone health. In fact, the data suggested that if women eat a high-protein diet, they may increase their lumbar bone-mineral density.

Myth 3: Muscle Soreness Is Caused By A Build-up Of Lactic Acid

You might have heard a massage therapist saying, “Today, I’m going to massage the lactic acid out of your muscles so you won’t be sore.” Sorry to burst their bubble, but lactic acid, aka lactate, has nothing to do with delayed-onset muscle soreness. DOMS is primarily caused by doing eccentric loading or negatives, or by doing exercises that tax your muscles in new ways. In either case, the soreness comes from micro tears in your muscle fibres.

Lactate isn’t a metabolic poison and it doesn’t cause soreness. In fact, it’s a fuel source used by your heart, brain, muscles, and kidneys.

Myth 4: You Lose More Fat By Decreasing Fats…Or Carbohydrates

Some people say the way to lose body fat is to follow a low-fat, high-carb diet, while others insist it has to be a high-fat, low-carb diet. The truth is, if you keep protein the same and reduce your total daily calorie allowance, you should lose pretty much the same amount of weight with either approach.

In other words, you lose body fat by keeping your protein the same but reducing your daily allowance of calories. When you compare one diet to another, it is usually the one that’s higher in protein that leads to greater body-fat loss.

Myth 5: Taking Creatine Causes Cramps And Dehydration

In studies of how the body reacts to exercises done in abnormally high heat, researchers have found that subjects who take creatine perform better. There is simply no scientific basis to the persistent idea that creatine causes cramps, dehydration, or both.

Myth 6: Women Who Strength-Train Get Big And Bulky

Look in any college gym and you’ll see lots of young men doing prodigious amounts of lifting and eating, in hopes of gaining as much weight as possible. Try as they might to bulk up, it usually doesn’t happen. Yet many women feel they’ll suddenly get gargantuan muscles from lifting even light weights. The fact is, it is very difficult for anyone—especially women—to add muscle mass or lean body mass

just by lifting weights.

Myth 7: Artificial Sweeteners Are Bad For You

Robust data shows that artificial sweeteners such as Sucralose or Aspartame are indeed safe. Experiments in which scientists give animals very large doses of these artificial sweeteners do reveal problems, but when taken in the normal amounts humans consume, there’s no evidence these sweeteners cause harm. When it comes to satisfying your sweet tooth, these sweeteners offer a safe substitute for sugar-filled foods and beverages.

Myth 8: It Doesn’t Matter How Much You Eat, As Long As You Eat “Good Food”

Both the number of calories you consume and the quality of the food you eat plays a role in your overall physique. You can’t ignore either one. Unless you are following some superhero workout plan or are skiing across Antarctica, you can’t consume 5,000 calories a day without putting on some body fat. Eat 20 avocados a day—a healthy food—and you’re still going to weigh more. That’s all there is to it.

You can, however, overeat a bit—as long as you’re getting those calories from protein. Based on existing research, it appears that even if you consume 300-400 extra calories of protein each day, your body won’t create additional fat. If, on the other hand, you overindulge in carbs and fat, get ready to loosen your belt a notch or two. You can’t just sit down with a big jar of peanut butter, eat it all day long, and not expect to gain weight. Sorry.

Myth 9: You Have A Few Hours After Your Workout To Get Your Protein

Here’s the question: After you’ve finished your workout, should you consume your 20-40 grams of protein immediately after, or can you just go home and wait for up to an hour or two?

Many people think that as long as you get your protein within your “anabolic window,” a period that lasts for many hours after a workout, you’ll be fine. I think that’s the wrong way to look at it. The question is whether there is any value or benefit to holding off on your protein consumption, and the answer is no. There’s absolutely no value to it.

The pragmatic answer then is that when you’re finished training, whether you were lifting or doing cardio, drink your protein shake as soon as possible. There’s no clear drawback, and may be some potential benefit.

Myth 10: Caffeine Is A Diuretic Agent That Can Lead To Dehydration

When you look at the data on exercise and caffeine, it is clear that caffeine improves exercise performance. But does it also cause the body to urinate more? There is some evidence that it might have a very mild diuretic effect, possibly when consumed as a cup of strong coffee. In general, the data does not support the theory that caffeine is a diuretic.

Myth 11: The Best Way To Lose Body Fat Or Weight Is Through Exercise

According to the data and studies, exercise alone is a poor way to lose weight or body fat, mostly because most people don’t exercise enough to matter. Even if you ride a bike for four hours a day or work out at the gym for 60 minutes a day, you’re just not burning that many calories.

The primary driver of fat loss is diet. If you’re in the gym for an hour, you might burn 300-400 calories, which is very easy to replace with even a small meal. If you change your diet throughout the day, though, it’s much easier to create a caloric deficit, one that will result in more fat loss than exercise only.

Exercising more or changing the way you exercise—without reducing your caloric intake—isn’t how you lose body weight. You have to do both together.

Words courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com

799 Broadway, New York

Laurence Grigorov, who is director of a Johannesburg-based property development company, often looks for inspiration from international architectural design trends.

A new project that Laurence Grigorov recently read about is a 12-storey boutique office building in New York.

Perkins+Will’s New York studio has unveiled its design for 799 Broadway, just south of Union Square co-developed by Normandy Real Estate Partners and Columbia Property Trust. Designed around the optimal tenant experience, 799 Broadway leverages the studio’s extensive workplace and institutional sector experience to create an innovative design approach that reinvents the classic NYC ‘loft’ building with contemporary materials, systems and technology.

An exercise in designing from the inside out, the meticulously crafted midrise offers a range of flexible floorplates that extend into a cascade of undulating terraces on almost every floor. The sculptural push and pull of the massing exploits zoning setback regulations to deliver a human-scaled expression with meaningful connections to the outdoors.

“The scale of the building and its relationship to the neighborhood emphasizes human experience. How tenants would actually use the space informed every decision we made,” explains Robert Goodwin, Design Director, Perkins+Will. “We see the setbacks mandated by the city as an opportunity for terraces that will serve as intentional extensions of the workplace. They’re large enough for furniture, so you can move from an indoor to an outdoor setting seamlessly. The resulting dynamic architectural identity is an outcome of this relationship, and will lead a new generation of open, flexible, human-scaled office buildings in the city.”

A simple palette of white metal panels, clear glass windows and wood soffits echoes the classic iron-cast building across 11th Street, while picking up on the white limestone of the iconic Grace Church across Broadway. These materials are woven together to unify the glass volumes, and help the offering to create an integrated vertical expression. Landscaping on the balconies softens the exterior while reinforcing the connection to nature and the church courtyard.

“The site is really special. It’s at this moment in New York where Broadway bends as it heads north, which we wanted to celebrate. 799 Broadway respects its surroundings through the building’s scale and materiality, but it also creates a striking presence,” says Goodwin.

Normandy and Columbia selected Perkins+Will to lead the design because of the firm’s multidisciplinary background and research-driven approach to design.

799 Broadway interiors will feature exposed cast-in-place concrete structure and ceilings, offering an innovative re-invention of the traditional New York City lofts modernized with efficient mechanical systems and open spaces. Located off of Broadway, the main lobby offers clear sight-lines to a shared courtyard that will serve as a focus for social and business functions. The courtyard doubles as the outdoor component of a tenant lounge on the lower level, where many of the building’s amenities are housed, including a gym with a locker room, showers, and ample bike storage. Retail frontage along Broadway further integrates the building into its vibrant surroundings, while on the rooftop, a terrace boasts views of the East River, TriBeCa, One World Trade and the Hudson River.

799 Broadway is located at the corner of 11th Street and Broadway and is being developed into a new 12-story 182,187 rentable square foot boutique, Class-A office building.

Laurence Grigorov is often influenced by modern design trends and ideas and uses these as inspiration in the company’s architectural style.

Words & image courtesy of www.architectmagazine.com

World’s Tallest Hybrid Wood Tower

Laurence Grigorov, who is director of a leading residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa keeps abreast of local and international design and architectural trends in order to offer the best product to the local market. Laurence Grigorov is the founder and has remained director of the company since inception.

Laminated wood and concrete will form the hybrid structural system of the high-rise Canada’s Earth Tower that global firm Perkins+Will has unveiled for British Columbia.

The project, called Canada’s Earth Tower, is planned for a 1.3-acre (0.5-hectare) property along Eighth Avenue near Vancouver’s Burrard Slopes neighbourhood. The site is currently occupied by a nondescript, four-storey building dating to the late 1970s.

Set to rise approximately 120 metres, the building will be “the world’s tallest hybrid wood tower”, according to Perkins + Will, an 84-year-old practice with offices around the globe, including Vancouver.

The developer is local firm Delta Land Development.

Encompassing 31,587 square metres, Canada’s Earth Tower will contain approximately 200 apartments, along with shops, restaurants and office space. The mixed-use building will have 35 to 40 storeys, with an exact number yet to be determined.

The massing consists of a tower that rises up from a U-shaped podium. The podium wraps an entry courtyard with plants, trees and seating. One rendering shows a portion of the podium carved away to form a large, sheltered passage with foliage and rocks.

The building’s structural system will employ a hybrid approach in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Concrete will be used for the foundation and core. For the walls, floor slabs and columns, the team will use a mix of cross-laminated timber, glulam timber and dowel-laminated timber – all types of engineered wood.

On the south face of the building, the team has incorporated communal gardens at every third floor, where residents can connect with each other while taking in sunlight and fresh air. Part of the project’s goal is to “support community and dramatically improve livability in tall, urban residential buildings”.

Aiming for Passive House certification, the building has a number of features that will help reduce energy consumption, such as triple-glazed windows, a heat-recovery system, and natural lighting and ventilation. Moreover, integrated photovoltaics will generate roughly 25 per cent of the building’s needed electricity.

“Canada’s Earth Tower will be a zero-emissions building,” the team said. “The building will not consume fossil fuels, such as natural gas, in operation.”

The team aims to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions during every stage of the project, from construction to operation. The project is part of a zero-carbon pilot programme launched by the Canada Green Building Council.

Several designs for tall or mid-rise buildings made of structural timber have emerged in recent years, leading architects to call this period the “the beginning of the timber age”.

Photo and words courtesy of www.dezeen.com