A mixed-use development in Mansfield has been progressing after the signing a funding agreement with the Homes and Communities Agency. This multi-million-pound development has taken a step forward as Berry Hill Mansfield has been awarded £8.5 million in funding from the HCA as part of a scheme that should provide much-needed homes for West Nottingham, and will also create jobs and business opportunities through the development of their new innovation park, as well as varied land opportunities which will include retail and leisure facilities. The Lindhurst Group is the developers for Berry Hill Mansfield and are pleased that the project has received backing from the Homes and Communities Agency when delivering the development. Berry Hill should provide a significant boost to the economy by creating up to 4,000 new jobs. These new jobs will also be delivering homes that are urgently required in order to meet demand. The development will create a brand new community for Nottingham area. The £8.5 million loan that has been agreed will ensure that 1,700 much needed homes will be built in Nottingham. This funding will provide the infrastructure needed to make sure the building goes ahead. The Lindhurst Group will develop 480 acres of land that are located on the boundary of Nottingham and Mansfield. This development will deliver an urban extension to Southern Mansfield. The scheme will include land that will be used for hi-tech research as well as development facilities, offices and accommodation for industrial uses. There will also be a new primary school, a children’s nursery as well as a health centre and care facilities. The infrastructure that is associated with the first phase of the developments have now begun. Work to build the houses is expected to start later this year. The first phase of the development will see 500 new homes built.

Vilnius – the capital of a small country named Lithuania and the greenest city I’ve ever been in. It is the city of architectural division and dynamic with the historical old town and modern industrial part. But tall skyscrapers with picturesque views you can find nearly everywhere nowadays, but not the old town – such places are exceptional. It is just a pleasure for the soul to be in this city, take long walks through those small cobbled streets, with gorgeous buildings around you, enjoy the nature, the architecture and the view of the warm lights and cosy cafes. Especially in winter, when it is minus twenty degrees outside, you freeze nearly to death, but the falling snow makes it look like a magic place from a fairy tale. Truly fascinating and inspiring place. The town itself began to develop in Middle Ages, thus you can find many different styles in the architecture of the Vilnius Old Town and here are the most prominent ones: Gothic  It is the architectural and art style of the mature and late medieval periods which was formed in France and reached Lithuania in the late part of the fourteenth century. This style is full of antinomy: symbolic, allegorical content and naturalistic visual detail, spirituality, mysticism and logical structure. In Lithuania, Church of St. Francis and St. Bernard is one of the largest sacral gothic buildings, but the most significant gothic monument is St. Anne’s Church. Both are located right next to each other in The Old Town of Vilnius, but one of them outshines the other. St. Anne’s Church is the most impressive building not only in Vilnius region, but throughout all Lithuania. None of the other gothic buildings can match with its elegance and richness of details, it is truly a masterpiece, which survived a lot of historical moments and was reconstructed multiple times. The St. Anne’s Church and the whole old town of Vilnius has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1994, but the Church itself was also brought to the CyArk database in 2010.  Renaissance  “Rebirth” or renaissance is the period in the European history which served as a transition from Middle Ages to modern history, a kind of cultural bridge. It spread throughout Christian Europe in the fifteenth – sixteenth centuries, replacing the medieval gothic style and brought mixed forms into fashion such as arches, columns and pilasters – the slight impact of antient heritage. Renaissance in architecture was brought to Lithuania by Queen Bona Sforza, wife of Lithuanian Grand Duke and King of Poland Sigismund I the Old. As she was an Italian, she was inviting her countrymen architects to Vilnius, who gave the city an Italian Renaissance character. The most popular places to see in Vilnius in this style are The Gate of Dawn, which contains an icon of The Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Mercy and it is said that the icon has a miraculous power, which is why many pilgrims from neighbouring countries are travelling to Lithuania to pray in front of the holy painting. Also, the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, The Bastion of Vilnius City Wall, Alumnat courtyard, House of the Signatories and many others.  Baroque Baroque is an art direction which originated in Rome during the late Renaissance and reached Vilnius in between sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It resisted to classicism and rationalism with its bizarre, strange and prone to excesses look and amongst other styles, baroque is an integral part of the architecture of the Old Town of Vilnius. The most outstanding examples of Vilnius Baroque are St. Catherine Church, St. Theresa Church and St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church. And I just can’t not mention Vilnius University. Baroque not only left the architectural heritage, but also left a significant imprint on painting, literature and applied art. It swept across Vilnius with all its power and greatly influenced the appearance of the city and its further development. Classicism  This is a grand style with its inherent columns, mouldings, pediments and balustrades. Large, bright building, spacious squares with a well-planned gardens and parks. It became popular in Europe only in eighteenth century, but its origin is ancient art. Like during the Renaissance, this is a comeback to the ancient architectural principles – simplicity, clarity, monumentality, rigor, use of classical compositions and ancient harmony. The most prominent buildings in Lithuania are built in this architectural style such as Presidential Palace, National Museum of Lithuania, Vilnius Town Hall and Vilnius Cathedral. The Old Town of Vilnius is an eye pleasing place with a great amount of beautiful churches, impressive constructions and architectural masterpieces. No wonder it attracts a considerable number of tourists each year. A truly worth to visit place, and not only in winter. During the summer, there is a lot of street musicians, who will turn your simple evening promenade into the romantic rendezvous.

Somebody calls it a Russian Manhattan, somebody thinks it doesn’t suit the overall appearance of the city. An idea that is either adored or hated, there is just no one who would be indifferent to it.   The most scandalous, the most controversial, and certainly the most striking capital project from the architectural point of view. “Moscow city” caused such disputes and such polar opinions and appraisals, like no other building development did. It is the most ambitious and unique architectural complex of the capital. The first plans of the design of Moscow International Business Centre (MIBC) were presented in 1991, and by the 2016, twelve of the twenty-three planned facilities have been built, seven buildings are in a construction process and four in the designing stage. Overall, the whole project will take around 100 hectares of the land which will consist skyscrapers, parks, parking lots, landing areas for helicopters and more. And the amount of investments is already approximately $12 billion. At the beginning, it was planned that the centre of the whole building development will be a large green park with a car park underneath. And all the buildings will be located around the park in a form of a horseshoe, spirally increasing from the lowest to the highest. Now, instead of a green park, the centre of a “Moscow city” took the largest, in terms of land space, building: a shopping mall – “Afimall City”. Also, each building was supposed to have each own architect, who would invest in the project their own ideas about modern living. However, this also didn’t happen, as the actions of the architects are being dictated not only by their own ideas, but also by the appetites of clients and investors. However, “Moscow City” still is an architectural phenomenon of the capital, designed by the most famous architects and the whole architectural firms of the world. It definitely stands out with its creativeness, uniqueness and spectacular buildings. Evolution Tower The tower “Evolution” was recognized as the best realized project in terms of a glass use and glass constructions at the “Glass in Architecture 2015”, Russian architectural competition. The building is certainly one of the most significant cites of the project, visually it makes an impression as if it would rotate around its axis by 156 degrees. It was designed by British architect Tony Kettle, managing director of the international architectural firm RMJM. He also designed Moscow’s “Domodedovo” airport, terminals 2 and 3, but his most impressive work is Lakhta Center in Russia. Imperia Tower Laconic, but at the same time extremely unusual, “Imperia” is unlike any other building in the wold. It was designed by the global architectural company NBBJ. NBBJ has their offices all around the world and there are many impressive designs on the company’s account, such as: Lincoln Financial Field, University of Washington, Paul Brown Stadium, Telenor, Swedish Medical Center, Reebok World Headquarters and more. They are also currently working on a new building for Manchester university, which will be a home for over 500 scientists. Interesting fact about “Imperia Tower”, it contains the highest hostel in the world, which is located on the 43rd floor of the building. Capital City Another creation of NBBJ is Capital city – the third largest building in Europe, consisting of two towers. Very interesting and unusual architecture of the building definitely attracts an attention. It is shaped in the form of blocks, placed offset relative to each other, thus the design of the towers creates a sense of movement and dynamism. In 2011, “Capital City” became one of the top ten “most aesthetic” skyscrapers in the world. Naberezhnaya Tower The only tower made in hi-tech style. The special feature of this building is the lack of glass on the technical floors in the two of three buildings. It creates an illusory deception of fragility of the buildings, where in reality it only gives them strength. Federation Tower This complex of two skyscrapers united by a common stylobate is the tallest building in Europe and has the best panoramic view on the city of all the towers.  It is designed by a collaboration of Russian and German architects Sergei Tchoban and Peter Schweger. During the creation of the towers, was used a custom-designed concrete B90. It strength level is so high, that even after a direct plane crush, the towers will remain intact. Eastern part of the building consists of 95 floors and reaches 374 meters in height. And in the west tower, there is a restaurant named “Sixty”, where every hour opera music is switched on and windows are hydraulically raised. At these moments, you can see the spectacular view of the city, without a glass as a barrier, from a height of about 200 m. At this altitude, the air is absolutely clear, as all the smog remains at the bottom. Mercury City Tower Probably the most eye-catching tower of all the towers in “Moscow City”. No wonder in 2013, “Mercury City” won the prestigious “International Property Awards Europe” in the category “Best High-rise Architecture”. Designed by Russian and American architects: Mikhail Posokhin and Frank Williams, Mercury Tower has an unusual shape and copper-golden colour tinted panoramic windows, which allow the construction to stand out from even the most unusual buildings in the city. OKO This building consists of two towers, united by a single, crystal shaped platform. The basic concept consists of simplicity of geometric shapes, as well as its smooth integration into a modern space of a centre of Moscow’s business life. It was designed by US architectural company Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM). Grand Tower, Neva Towers, IQ quarter, which is another project of NBBJ architectural firm, Eurasia Tower and Northern Tower where also already been built, as well as Tower 200, which is the first building of all the building elements in MIBC and was designed by the Soviet Russian architect Boris Tkhor, the one who the general idea of the City belongs to.