  We discuss our new implementation of the Real-space Electronic Structure
method for studying the atomic and electronic structure of infinite periodic as
well as finite systems, based on density functional theory. This improved
version which we call HARES (for High-performance-fortran Adaptive grid
Real-space Electronic Structure) aims at making the method widely applicable
and efficient, using high performance Fortran on parallel architectures. The
scaling of various parts of a HARES calculation is analyzed and compared to
that of plane-wave based methods. The new developments that lead to enhanced
performance, and their parallel implementation, are presented in detail. We
illustrate the application of HARES to the study of elemental crystalline
solids, molecules and complex crystalline materials, such as blue bronze and
zeolites.
