M House on I Like Architecture

M House is published on I Like Architecture!

Read the original article HERE
More about M House HERE
More photos on M House HERE
Other projects published by I Like Architecture HERE

I Like Architecture is the architecture blog that showcases unique contemporary designs, projects and concepts to those searching for architecture and design inspiration.

Multiple shortlisting!

Whilst we were working away on construction site, IDEA Awards (Interior Design Excellence Awards) has announced the shortlisted projects for 2012 - and we are shortlisted in 4 categories!

They are:
Emerging Designer [Facet Studio]
Hospitality [Uchi Lounge 01 & 02]
Workplace Under 1000sqm [Connect Sydney]
International Project [M House]

We are always challenging ourselves with different building and space types, rather than confining to particular types of spaces.

  

To read about last year our project Sneakerology/ Streetology winner of IDEA 2011 Retail category, click HERE
To find out more about the IDEA Awards, visit: http://www.idea-awards.com.au/
To find out more about the 2012 shortlists, visit: http://www.idea-awards.com.au/category/2012/2012-shortlist/

First step from being a construction site to becoming a home

This post was written back in mid January 2012....life gets busy, things keep on happening, and I never got around to finish it..
So here it is on Seatondale flooring.
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Finally today we are starting on the corridor flooring. 

Although the timber boards themselves have been transported to site from mid-December, in order for the timber boards to accustom to the indoor condition, it was necessary to keep them on site for over 2 weeks before laying them in place.

Because we are installing flooring on top of the uneven concrete slab, firstly we have to start with building the levelled base.  The base battens were built with approximately 30cm spacing, but if they are not all at the same level, the finished floor will not be even at the end.  Like in the photos, line by line, the floorers patiently checked the levels.  It is a painfully time consuming process.  We really had a lot of respect for their professionality.

The first row.  If this one is not straight, everything else follows will not be straight.  The floorers set up the straight line with red laser light, and place the floor board parallel to it.  We could sense the seriousness of the floorers.

After confirming the first row, the floorers moved on to the second and third row swiftly. 

Normally, every 6 rows there will need to allow for an expansion gap of 2.4mm.  However because this is the corridor, so we decided to place the expansion gap in the centre of the corridor.  

Because timber is a living material, it expands and contracts according to the weather; this gap of 2.4mm absorbs this timber movement.

Here the corridor flooring is finished.  As we are using floorboards of 20mm thickness, simply by walking on the new floor, from the foot we can sense this specific feeling created by solid timber.  There are also timber flooring which is engineers and manufactured, which although tricks our eyes, it can not trick the feelings on our skin.  Our senses as human beings do not lie.

This is Ping Wong, the floorer we are working with this time.  We have worked with him on more than 3 projects so far.  We have requested him to carry out the sample test of different finishing paint.

This time we have decided to specify a water-based finishing paint.  

In order to make something good, it is essential to carry out analogue tests like this.

Japanese version of this post can be viewed HERE.

Seatondale teaser

A couple of weeks ago the photo shoot for Seatondale interior took place.

The weather held up..... the light condition was perfect.... and some samples of the photos came in.

(c) Story Photography

So here is one for your viewing pleasure.

We have been extremely busy lately, but will try to organise the photos so they can be updated in our website... keep an eye out!

Let there be light 2

Following on from previous blog entry, we moved on to instal light fitting to the corridor.

from the day of photoshoot

The corridor has a finished ceiling of 3.4m, it is 1.7m wide and 11.5m long... something one would not expect in an ordinary house (but then again, who said Seatondale is an ordinary house?).

opening up the package to understand the wiring requirement

cutting the cable housing which was too long..it came with 2.5m and we only need 1m 

threading through the base plate

fixing the base plate

the assistant has to hold the light fitting while the electrician does the wiring

 assistant: "quick...I can't hold this anymore....!!"

the assistant also needs to stablise the electrician on the high ladder

 finally the first fitting is up, then we need to ensure the fitting is levelled on all sides

"...a bit lower there..." 

starting up the second fitting installation.. first measure the centre of the fitting

inside the ceiling there is no adequate structure to hold up the fitting, so we need to add an extra support (timber piece) to make sure the fitting is not only supported on the plasterboard (the plasterboard is not strong enough to hold the weight of the fitting)

making sure the timber is at the right place

this time the assistant knows to place the fitting on his head rather than holding with his hands..this way it is easier

this one was relatively fast in installation

 two down, one more to go

cutting the ceiling

careful.. careful....

 

checking if all corners are the same distance from the ceiling (the red thing on the light fitting is the level)

 

...and if all corners are the same distance from the floor (with construction, especially old houses like Seatondale, it is very likely that walls are not straight ceilings are not levelled, to name a few)

lets tuck this wire in..

after almost 4 hours the 3 light fitting are finally installed!

Let there be light

On Saturday we were finally able to instal light fitting to Seatondale.

To contrast and enhance the oldness of Seatondale, we have selected the sleek fittings from Kreon in the corridor, and modern yet soft fittings from Axo Lightecture range in the major rooms.  Throughout all the rooms we have designed new joinery with integrated light....which shall be explained in another entry.

The entire installation took 5 very long hours........

So, on the day, we started out with the light fittings inside the major rooms.

first, remove the original light fittings..

make sure we have the right length of cable, so that the light suspends at the height we want (we decided that the bottom of the light is to be in line with the top of the existing doors)

do majority of the cabling first to minimise amount of work on the ladder

up it goes!  Quick lets connect the cables

screw in the base plate through to the ceiling substrate

connecting the suspension wires and putting in the light bulb - the central cable is only for electricity, it is not strong enough to carry the light fitting.

wrap up the light again to make sure it stays nice and clean until the construction is over

Going on to the next room...

This time it is quicker because we have done it once already

Voila!

Up to here it took about 1 hour for the 2 fittings.

Installation for the corridor lights to be continued in the next post....

M House - DONE!!!!!

We are proud to announce...... M HOUSE IS COMPLETED!! (*scream with excitement*)

M House has successfully obtained 確認済証 ("kakuninsumi shou" = Occupational Certificate in Australia) on May 27th, and construction team has cleared out of the house completely.
Construction was officially launched October 23rd 2010, the entire construction period was 7 months despite the heavy snow and earthquake.
It feels a little sentimental, especially with a project which has been around for such a long time (it is as old as our practice!) to see it finally becomes an individual identity; I guess this feeling will be even stronger when the M family moves into their new home!

Here we have some photos taken by our multi-talented builder, Otsuki san.... they are so good that we can probably save on professional photography?!

our familiar shot.  Question: "where was Otsuki san standing when he took this photo?"

view from inside the entry box ("genkan") to the outside through main entry door

the deck viewed from outside entry door

view from the street (compare this with the last photo)

view of the deck at night

view from street

good bye! old M House!