Would YOU dare visit this restaurant?

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Those with a fear of heights might want to give this exclusive eatery a miss, because it juts right out hundreds of feet above a canyon – and there’s a glass floor to make the experience even more stomach churning.

Designed by Tall Arquitectos, the Copper Canyon Cocktail Bar will overlook the stunning Basaseachic Falls in Mexico – from above. 

The Copper Canyon, if built, will consists of two levels, with the first featuring a bar – for those who need a stiff drink to calm their nerves – and a dining area, which will have tables positioned around the perimeter to make the best of the precarious views. 

Once their meal is over, diners can retreat to the upstairs observation deck for a more chilled vibe.

They can also take a dip in the swimming pool to cool down after their one-of-a-kind fine dining experience, which is bound to leave them with vertigo. Or presumably they’ll be able to abseil down to the canyon floor.

The world’s tallest restaurant title currently remains with At.mosphere, which opened its doors 1,350 feet up on the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Office starts in London at highest recorded level with 51 new schemes under way

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Office starts in London hit a 20-year high and commercial activity grew by 28 per cent in the six months to March, according to Deloitte’s London Crane Survey for summer 2016

According to AJ sister-title Construction News, the survey shows there have been 51 new schemes start on site in the six months to the end of March 2016, the highest number in its 20-year history.

The total amount of office space under construction in the capital is now 1.3 million m².

The new figure far outstrips the previous high of 31 new schemes, recorded in 2007, and is more than double the 10-year average of 19 office starts. It is also more than 10 times the low point of four office starts recorded in 2010.

The 1.3 million m² under construction is the largest since the Q1 2008 survey but is still below the high of 1.8 million m² reported in 2002.

The bulk of new office starts (26) are in the City, taking the square mile’s development pipeline to 762,000m². Nine new schemes started in Midtown, which also posted the largest growth in development activity of any London region – a 58 per cent increase compared with the six months to October 2015.

Elsewhere, the West End saw 12 new office starts while Southbank and King’s Cross recorded two apiece.

Developer Brookfield has the largest amount of office space under construction across the capital, followed by Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group. In total, property companies account for 38 per cent of the space under construction, down from 49 per cent in the six months to October 2015.

Nearly six million sq ft of the space currently under construction in London is already let – 42 per cent of the total, up from 38 per cent in the previous survey.

Commenting on the survey, Deloitte Real Estate head of occupier advisory Chris Lewis said much of this uptake was from the financial sector, which accounted for 210,000m² of space.

He added that businesses will ’increasingly seek providers who can offer real estate as a service.’

’Rapid advances in technology, combined with a new generation entering the workforce and changing business structures, mean the way in which offices are used will continue to change,’ he said.

Spreading like wildfire: Why wooden skyscrapers are springing up across the world

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(CNN)Wood is being billed as the answer to creating greener cities — lightweight and sustainable, it is even said to be more fire resistant than steel.

The newest addition to the timber trend is a proposed 19-storey structure that will be built in the Swedish city of Skelleftea.
Designed by architecture firm White Arkitekter, it was the winning submission in a competition to design a cultural center and hotel in the Swedish city.
The “Sida vid Sida” — its name translated to side by side” — submission was praised for paying tribute to the city’s rich local timber industry, and the multiple design benefits attributed to wood as a building material.
Once complete, the 19-storey structure is expected to become the tallest wooden building in the Nordic countries.

Spreading like wildfire

An explosion of timber towers, either built or proposed, has gripped the architecture world over the past five years, every one seemingly a recorder holder in some respect.
In 2012, the 10-story, 104-feet-high Forte residential block was erected overlooking Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour.
It was the world’s tallest timber building until The Treet in Central Bergen, Norway, stole that title in 2014, with an extra four stories.

Glass slide opens 1,000ft above LA

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A glass slide fixed 1,000ft (305m) up on the outside of a skyscraper in Los Angeles opens to the public on Saturday.

The Skyslide spans 45 ft from the 70th to the 69th floor of the US Bank Tower in the city.

Despite being made of glass just one inch thick, it is built to withstand hurricane-force winds and earthquakes.

Tickets cost $25 (£18) each. It is part of the Skyspace renovation that also includes an observation deck.

Some visitors got a preview earlier in the week.

“I thought it was nerve-wracking and exciting and daring,” said Keri Freeman.

“I went a lot faster than I thought I would,” said Rebecca Fitzgerald.

“And you kind of like hit the side as you’re coming around the curve, so you’re really pressed up against the glass, so you see the whole world below you, but it’s not really that scary.”