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June 2008
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Lollipop

"What does it take to be a champion? Desire, dedication, determination, concentration and the will to win.."

-Patty Berg

(click image for Lollipop)

Bird's Nest
Olympic Stadium is a man made marvel! The National Stadium in Beijing is located on a gentle rise in the centre of the Olympic complex. An undulating composition of high and low
elevations moderates the bulk of the vessel and gives it a dramatic sweeping form. The
stadium's appearance is pure structure. Facade and structure are identical. The structural elements mutually support each other and converge into a grid-like formation -- almost like a bird's nest with its interwoven twigs.

The design meets all the functional and technical requirements of an Olympic Stadium, but without communicating the insistent sameness of technocratic architecture dominated by large spans and digital screens. The spatial effect of the stadium is novel and radical and yet simple and of an almost archaic immediacy, thus creating a unique historical landmark for the Olympics 2008. It's truly a man made marvel as you'll see in the fascinating Discovery Channel video posted on YouTube.

* Venue: National Stadium
* Location: Olympic Green
* Total land surface: 258,000 sq m
* Seats: 91,000
* Competitions: Athletics, Football
* Post-Games use: The Stadium is to stage sports events at national and international levels, as well as cultural and entertaining activities
* Groundbreaking date: December, 2003
* Designer: Herzog & DeMeuron (Swiss) and China Architecture Design Institute

To view the Discovery Channel video click here.
Linea
Linea receives Best of NeoCon Award!
HBF has tapped Barcelona-based designer Mario Ruiz to create Linea, a new office casegood collection that brings a clean, simple aesthetic and an unusual range of surfaces and colorations to the market.

Kevin Stark, HBF's Vice President of Design, cites several important features that give Linea its special appeal. He points to the variety of material thicknesses with subtle offsets that give each piece proportions of unusual subtlety. A wide range of detailing options are also critical -- glass or extruded aluminum shelving, anodized drawer pulls and grommets, leather and acrylic work surface inserts, and the use of dark finished bases that are intentionally set back to make each unit feel as if it is floating.

In creating Linea, Mario Ruiz says, "We strived to design a furniture program that would easily adapt to diverse scenarios, something that we achieved by using a unique combination of materials and proportions. This results in designs that give a new look to each configuration in which they are used. While looking light and airy, each unit offers optimum storage capability and expansive work surfaces."
ecoScorecard
ecoScorecard
In keeping with HBF's commitment to reduce the environmental impact of their products on the workplace environment and on the community as a whole, HBF and HBF Textiles continues the pursuit of GreenGuard Indoor Air Quality Certification for the majority of their seating products, along with other product segments. Additionally they now can offer clients the opportunity to check the environmental sensitivity of their products via ecoScorecard.

Diverse images from nature primarily inspired This useful and highly significant web-based tool not only helps customers identify environmentally sensitive products, but can also be used to calculate the contribution of HBF products toward the attainment of LEED-CI credits. HBF is the first major contract manufacturer to have this tool available in the marketplace.
Green Olympics
Committed to a "green" Olympics, Beijing has built its key venues into not only showpieces among the most imaginative and impressive architectural feats in the world, but also energy-saving role models. Visit the Olympic Games Website to learn more.

All the best,

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Bill Meyer
Contract Specialities, Inc. (CSI)

phone: 954-389-1295 or 800-808-8274