Eki finalised

A few of the finalised photos of Eki.

  

 

 

Eki is the official distributor for high end hair products, mainly Shiseido Professional.
The limited space has to multi-task between showroom, office space, product dispatch centre - basically the "pretty side" and the "paddling side" of a business.

We have created a pure space for the products, which also multi-tasks; display shelves can be placed anywhere within the white cube with the system we custom designed for the project, 2 projection screens can be used for different purposes simultaneously or independently... and as everything can be tucked away, the space itself can be used to house functions such as product launch and award presentation.

The "pretty side" of business is what "sells"; but it does not exist independent of the "paddling side" which holds everything together.  In Eki the "paddling side" of business surrounds the "pretty side", holding it together literally.

... more photos to come ...

Photographing Eki

Today we photographed Eki.

It was completed just before I took off to Japan to join the team for Doshisha in November... Just made it in time.

It is a strange feeling to photograph a project, like making a mental note that the project is in fact, completed.

Looking forward to seeing the finished photos.

Heavy, delicate, plentiful

The true test for Eki has begun.

Prefabricated steel panels were delivered, and our "thinking power" is to be put on trial (fingers crossed!).

With prefabrication, absolutely everything is in the head until the very moment it becomes reality, so we have to keep simulating situations in our head and find solutions that way before problems take shape. Especially with steel as there is so little can be done on site.

 

 

 

 

It was literally a truck-ful of panels... They were taken into the site one by one, heavy stuff.

We then went through all panels to measure and cross check against drawings, to understand the variations and tolerances. Turns out 3 panels were made incorrectly and one was missing... Good we found out early enough to rectify without holding up the project.

Panels were grouped according to types, each with "name tag" on it to make the builder's job a little easier... And to help him plan ahead. Most importantly is to avoid making mistakes...

So here's the "skeleton" we've prepared earlier...
Panels are forming part of the structure so the frames were propped on timber until fixed with panels.

Slowly, carefully, but surely, one by one....

Different trade

For the project Eki, we have been challenging prefabrication and customised fabrication...

Although we have been working a lot with timber prefabrication, the new field for us this time is steel manufacturing.
Major difference between steel and timber prefabrication is the flexibility to modify on site - with timber, it is a fairly flexible and workable material; with steel everything pretty much need to be spot on and there is very little can be done on site.  Hence the importance of prototyping.

For a small (but of vital importance) fixture we are designing for Eki's display system, I took a road trip (can I exaggerate any more?) to Sydney's South West and visited the metal workshop.

It is important for us architects to gain a good understanding of how different trades work... where did I hear this from?

"In order to design well, one needs to feel the weight a tradesperson carries"

fantastic blue sky.
Thanks to Joe from Impact Metalworks for picking me up from the station!

intimate workshop

 

bending ...

pressing ...

hammering ...

New start

Same crew
Different site
New start.

Tangled

Making a start on a new site. Peculiar... A shop changed hand half way through construction with all kinds of cables embedded, making the start to our construction slightly more confusing than usual...

To kick start construction, we need to disconnect services first.
Here we need to trace back all these cables with very little clues.. Almost like reading a suspense story.