SCAU unveils concept for a Ferris wheel hotel in Paris

Ever feel that a five-minute ride on a Ferris wheel just isn’t long enough? Or that it really is so enjoyable and scenic that you didn’t want to get off?

Architects Maxime Barbier and Luc Delamain, from Paris-based SCAU, are planning to build a water wheel hotel with pods that will constantly rotate, just like the amusement park ride. The Telegraph reports that each of the 19 rooms will be 12 feet long, soundproof, and have its own fully-padded sleeping chamber, bathroom, and window.

The wheel will rotate slowly, making a full loop every half hour. To help in the case of emergencies, the wheel will only be 100 feet tall. The cost of a night’s stay in the wheel will be about 300 euros, or $326.

The plan is for the hotel to relocate every six months, possibly to face other European landmarks like the Eifel Tower and Big Ben. Its initial location will be on the banks of the Seine river.

“Like all the world’s big cities, Paris is reclaiming its river and the wheel hotel will be an attraction for tourists and locals,” Barbier told the Telegrah. “It will offer a new way to contemplate the city, sometimes from the level of the river and then from the level of the rooftops.”

Hoping to send a loud message that Chicago is serious about luring tourism and entertainment spending, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has released details of two initiatives that have been developing for more than a year and that it says will mean $1.1 billion in investment in the McCormick Place and Navy Pier areas.

For a recent renovation of a stairwell and exit corridors at Ridgewood High Scho

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Tips for designing with fire rated glass - AIA/CES course

Kate Steel of Steel Consulting Services offers tips and advice for choosing the correct code-compliant glazing product for every fire-rated application. This BD+C University class is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.

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Los Angeles may add cool roofs to its building code

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Batson-Cook completes Hampton Inn near National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning

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6 lobby design tips

If you do hotels, schools, student unions, office buildings, performing arts centers, transportation facilities, or any structure with a lobby, here are six principles from healthcare lobby design that make for happier users—and more satisfied owners.