Monday, August 24, 2009

How Strong is Legare Furniture?

As an architect, I fell in love with Legare furniture system. In fact, the design of this revolutionary furniture system impressed me so much that I persuaded Mike Markwardt, the owner of Legare Furniture, to allow me to represent their furniture line in the tri-state areas of NY/NJ/CT.


While sharing this “Fun to Assemble” furniture system with furniture dealers and end users, people would always ask me about how sturdy it is. This is one of the amazing parts of this furniture design. The folks that created Legare Furniture performed quite an amazing test at Entala Labs. They were able to prove their point about the furniture being strong and sturdy by placing 2000pounds (yes, a ton) of weights onto the furniture.

Here is a video that shows how incredible sturdy this furniture really is...



If you are interested in learning more about this outstanding solution for urban living, check out their web site at http://www.LegareFurniture.com. Don’t hesitate to call them at toll-free 877-2LEGARE (that’s 877-253-4273) to start profiting on the sale of this fabulous “Fun to Assemble” furniture from your showroom!

Some of you may have seen the other videos that I posted about Legare Furniture. If not, check them out at http://lanearchitecture.blogspot.com/search?q=legare+furniture and http://lanearchitecture.blogspot.com/search?q=fun.

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Thursday, August 13, 2009

Saving the Green Stuff

Here is a link to a web site that can help you make better decisions that will make your life better and help the environment.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Increase Profits Even During the Recession!


With the current recession, we really need an edge with our commercial real estate investments. I found some really cool ways to increase profits within our offices and wrote the book about it. Check it out at http://www.MyDesignedOffice.com.

If you can't wait to get your hands on your copy of this book, just click on the book icon at the top of the right column of this blog.

By the way, there are a dozen fee bonus items that you really need to see at that web site. Go now!

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Monday, August 10, 2009

How the Recession Affects the Affluent


Check out my blogtalkradio feed on the right column to hear what I said to the 2008 Main Street Forum about attracting the affluent, like Trump's clientele, to the downtowns.


Do you agree with my comments? Let me know by emailing to me at info@LaneArchitecture.net.

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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Back on the Edge of the Prairie


What do you do to get your mind off of the pressures of the day? For me, I have found refuge listening to The Prairie Home Companion podcasts shows on my ipod while training to my office.

Here is a video clip of his show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wewzGYW_Hrw

Like my radio show and podcast, Garrison Keillor's show is only about 15 minutes, but it can really put you into a different frame of mind. His made up world in a town somewhere on the edge of the prairie in Minnesota is filled with colorful characters and places. The News from Lake Wobegon is filled with its own set of problems. Garrison is able to find humor in a place that is closed off from outsiders. The town is populated with people who would not dare stand out in a crowd. If they did, they would surely be moving soon to the big city of, say, St. Paul.

I doubt that anyone in his fictitious hometown would ever consider creating an office that would attract more people and business as is discussed in my new book, "The Designed Office." Instead, his characters and places are deliberately bland to a point that they are funny in a sarcastic kind of way. They go out of their way to not be attractive to town visitors.

That is not how you are living your life is it? Are you just tolerating where you live and the people around you, or are you trying to make a difference within yourself and in others? It is easy to become introspective and stack negative emotions over and over while listening to the news or looking at the state of our retirement funds. But history has proven time and time again that tough times weed out the weak while offering new opportunities for the wise.

Together, we can overcome any obstacle. One thing that I see happening during this challenging times is people are collaborating their talents a lot more creatively. Join me at doing that. Don't be just above average.

Tomorrow, (Friday, August 7th) lift up your glasses of liquid clear (water) and wish Garrison Keillor a happy birthday. He turns 67.

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Monday, August 3, 2009

Adaptive Reuse

When you are holding on a commercial property and can't find a buyer for it, what are your other opitions?

One of them is to propose a different use for the building.

Check with the zoning department in the town that the building is in. There, you will find out what uses are allowed for that property. You can also find other buildings of the same zone designation and learn what uses are allowed in the city that are not listed in the zoning books.

For example, there is a building in Union, NJ that was built in the early 1980's. Its original use was a office/warehouse for office furniture and office equipment. After some research, it was found that medical related uses were attractive to the locale zoning board. So, the commercial realtor contacted our office to help them illustrate to their potential clients how a health/wellness center would look within its walls.

Here is a before and after of just one of the interior areas for the warehouse area. There will be more images that will be posted on future blogs of this property.



This is a photo of the existing warehouse area. Notice the location of the columns on both the photo and the rendering. This is how you can match to two images.



This is a proposed lap pool in the existing warehouse. The wall to the right is all glass with water flowing down it to create a translucent barrier between the adjacent muscel machine room. Descriptive words such as uplifting, empowering, motion, health, and healing are just some of the experiences that a user of this space is to enjoy. This is an example of what Experience Architecture design philosphy is all about.

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