Aedas is simply a world leader in architecture, whose projects encompass every design aspect, from health and safety management, conservation, and geomatics, to building, workplace and access consultation. Their research and development includes sustainability and advanced modeling groups as well as collaborative efforts with education centers around the world.

With 2,500 employees in 40 international offices, the firm’s project list includes work in every conceivable design sector, and Aedas has received numerous awards for structural design as well as engineering excellence. A prestigious client list includes partnerships with New York Public Library, AIG Global Real Estate, Prudential Portfolio, HSBC, Harvard University, and Allied London. Find Aedas here.

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One of the latest offerings from GPS pioneer Garmin is the Forerunner 405, which combines a wristwatch with a full-featured timer for runners and sports enthusiasts.

With a convenient touch-sensitive bezel to actuate timing functionality, lap times, routes, training and GPS data can be recorded, accessed and changed in motion. The training watch acts as a Virtual Partner, tracking pace, time, distance, calories and, in a deluxe model, heart rate. Workout results interface wirelessly to a home computer or in conjunction with Garmin Connect and Garmin Training Center, the company’s software accessories for the Forerunner series. List price is $299 or $349 with Heart Rate Monitor. Find it here.

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46-year-old architect Paul de Ruiter wrote a philosophical doctoral thesis that proposed the use of active building materials to create energy-efficient structures, thereby less dependent on conventional temperature controls. Since 1994, his firm has carried out this philosophy by designing unique, cost-effective dwellings for his clients, with offices in Amsterdam and Beijing.

De Ruiter employs a number of sustainability concepts during construction. His buildings incorporate revolutionary ideas, like harnessing the power of natural light, solar energy, and climate-controlled building exteriors to store or divert excess heat throughout the year, increasing energy efficiency.

The last several years have seen De Ruiter’s firm concentrating on design characteristics that blend with natural environments, like the Rijkswaterstaat office in Middleburg, Netherlands, completed in 2004. Set into favorable surroundings along a water delta, the office utilizes acres of glass and cold storage pipes underground to allow the active concrete to store heat in winter and cool the interiors in summer. The office employs a versatile design with wide hallways, and a spacious, open structure for maximum comfort and versatility.

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Waterford is a distinguished purveyor of well-crafted ranges, refrigerators, built-in ovens, and stovetop hobs that provide high-quality solutions for modern kitchens and the discriminating tastes of serious culinary types. The company’s Stanley Supreme line of ranges feature five-burner gas hobs, twin fan ovens, and high speed ceramic grills that are both technologically advanced and easy to install.

Waterford’s appliances are “A” energy rated and built to last. Ovens feature deep baking pans, pop out controls, catalytic liners and child/safety locks. Their auto-defrost Refrigerator/Freezer has an electronic control panel with stainless steel, reversible doors, adjustable glass shelves and a chrome wine rack. Designer cooker hoods are low-noise, halogen-lit powerful extractors with stainless-steel splashbacks. Find them here.

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Swarovski Crystals have been making the retail rounds of late, showing up on cell phones, computer accessories, jewelry, and now furniture, seemingly offering the business world a clinic on diversification.

Swarovski, the Austrian 100-year veteran of fine crystal jewels has teamed with German brethren Finkeldei, who have crafted fine upholstered furniture for the last 50 years, for the ultimate in living room luxury, the Crystal Edition furniture. The epitome of classic style that evokes dreams of the Renaissance, this incomparable collection of armchairs, sofas and accessories embody the spirit of royal ancestry, when monarchs ruled the world.

For those of us with money to burn, this collection presents a stylish way to separate you from others in the neighborhood, perhaps even the city. Find them here.

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