Commercial Property North London: Always A Strong Investment

Shops to let in North London have, like all commercial property in North London, suffered in recent months. The credit crunch and resulting recession hit properties hard in capitals across the world. In many of these, prices have still not come back. In London, however, the picture is unexpectedly different. Commercial property took a real hammering as the economy nosedived, and the best office space in particular was badly hit. That meant a couple of things. Firstly, yields rose quite strongly as sale prices fell but rental prices dropped less sharply. Secondly, there were significant opportunities for foreign investors who recognised a bargain when they saw one – which is what happened not long afterwards. The relative strength of the Euro against the pound meant that investors on the continent (as well as further afield) made the most of the competitive prices. Whether it was a high-rise development in the Square Mile or a shop for sale in London, it could be seem as a potentially lucrative asset.

This dynamic led to a quick bounce back in property prices in the capital. This was supported by a relative dearth of additional development. As the long-awaited recovery appears on the horizon – subject to further setbacks from the Eurozone – the bottleneck this will cause is expected to nudge prices even higher once again. Things in London aren’t exactly ‘business as usual’ but the picture there is a lot better than in other areas of the country, which helps as well. The GDP figures that the government awaits from quarter to quarter are not a reliable local indication, since they are not uniform; London and the southeast, in particular, are in a much stronger position economically than elsewhere.

Shops to rent in North London can thus be seen as an investment opportunity. Property has fallen from grace as an investment in recent times, being blamed as a critical strand of the global economic traumas that are still working themselves out. Commercial property in North London doesn’t play by quite the same rules as property elsewhere – office space, industrial, retail or otherwise. This means that, assuming you’re able to remain in it for the medium-term, you can expect to make a profit on your purchase. A shop for sale in London might not have the prestige of a skyscraper on Canary Wharf, but with a little background information you could find it yielding the same kind of return on investment.

Please visit https://www.claridges-commercial.co.uk

Brise soleil: Functional, Visually striking and Eco-friendly

In todays world, architects are becoming more and more fond of using large expanses of glass in their designs, especially in large buildings. This creates a striking facade, however, these buildings can be prone to overheating and lack of ventilation. This is where external louvres can prove a wonderful benefit. These ventilating features consist of wooden, aluminium or glass slats placed periodically down the side of a building in order to encourage circulation of fresh air.

Glass louvres are especially common in big cities or other heavily populated areas, where the air is polluted, or in excessively hot or cold climates.

Many pedestrians walking past a building which has external louvres installed will not realize their practical advantages, as louvres can be so aesthetically pleasing that they can be mistaken for a mere design feature with no beneficial function. However, louvres not only function as ventilation features or temperature control, they can also be used to keep sand from entering a building, as well as preventing sound pollution.

For larger buildings, or buildings frequented by the public, such as museums or galleries, architects often choose brise soleil. French for €˜sunbreaker€™, these structures reduce heat gain within a building by controlling the amount of sunlight that penetrates the (often glass) walls. They have the added benefit of shading visitors around the building from sunlight or rain.

The structure of brise soleil vary wildly from one project to the next, but normally they consist of a horizontal projection made of steel. Some structures are much more complex, however, with architect Jean Nouvel designing an elaborate facade of multi-layered shapes evocative of ancient Islamic screens on his Burj Qatar skyscraper. Structures can also be made to move with the sun: for example, the Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum includes a wing-like structure that opens during the day to shade visitors from the head, and closes at night. These dramatic brise soleil are wonderful examples of how function and design can combine to create distinctive buildings that are highly practical in their conception.

Obviously, one of the main advantages of louvres is temperature control, and this is why they are so well respected as eco-friendly features. In fact, glass louvres don’t just deflect excess heat, they actually absorb it, retaining it to be released to heat the building in the winter. In this way, louvres are capable of assisting to regulate a building’€™s heat, from cool in summer to warm in winter. External louvres can even be integrated with solar energy, as they are perfectly positioned to house delicate solar panels.

Please visit http://www.maplesunscreening.co.uk/