Wu-Gu and Chinese high tea

Bonus of working on designs for restaurants - delicious ones especially - is exposure where we do not normally get as architects.

Wu-Gu was featured on Daily Telegraph on Sunday (for their delicious food), with interesting description of the space:

...the fitout is Chinese tea house gone high-rise .... not a fussy space...

We are never into the "fussy" kind of design so it is not to my surprise, but the tea house (and culture specific) is quite an interesting association which I do not dislike.  It is one which is quiet, serene, almost meditative, but with sweet smell in the air and warmth to the touch of fingertips.

More on making of Wu-Gu HERE

Wu-Gu restaurant official site HERE
Wu-Gu Facebook HERE

The original article HERE

100 days of 五穀 Wu-Gu

We have obtained Occupational Certificate for Wu-Gu on the 100th day from the start of construction.

It was opened to family and friends on FEB 15, one fine Sunday afternoon.

Soft opening to public was on FEB 17 evening.

Despite the obstacles, the space was filled with a crisp joy.

It was one of those moments - the "never been happier for not giving up" moment.

Here are some photos from Sunday FEB 15 (photo: Eugene Wu)

Followed by slideshows of the construction.

 the facade.  It is completely openable to create a seamless inside-outside connection during the day, however with the current footpath condition (which is to be paved in a couple of months time) the client is shying off the idea for the time being.

 interesting how tables chairs and tableware can make such a big change in impression...
it was suddenly a restaurant whilst less than 24 hours ago it was a construction site.

  looking back at the entry

 the solid looking facade catches glimpses of street activity.
It was designed to screen out headlights from all directions at night and maintain a level of inside-outside visual connection, to ensure comfort of the patrons.

such lovely festivity, just in time for Chinese New Year celebrations!

on the mezzanine

Love the sense of space and volume

ground level

mezzanine level

Last stretch for Wu-Gu! 加油! がんばれー!

For many many many unforeseeable reasons beyond our control, Wu-Gu construction is suffering from extended delay (you do not have a whole day to read and I do not have a whole day to whinge, let's not get into it..).  Now we are seeing light at end of tunnel, at last.

Some lessons I have learnt to date are:
1.
Contract is a formal documentation of human relationships.
Contractual arrangements between all parties (including and definitely not limiting to leasing contract between client and his/ her landlord) have direct impact on people's mentality, which directly influence people's attitude, performance and reliability.
2.
Amount of time spent =/= quality of outcome.
3.
(reinforced) Persistence.

Anyway, let's do look at some nice site photos!

The hoarding came down, this was the first time I have looked at the facade in its entirety.
Was so exciting!

Close up of facade in process.  The window mullions are made of 8mm steel flatbar, designed to be very refined to minimise gaps between facade joinery boxes.

Majority of the facade came flarpacked and was built off-site, they give more depth to the facade.

strong linearity inside the shop

most of internal spatial divisions were also built up by the flatpacked boxes

lights up;
modularity of the boxes extending from inside to the outside is visible; the entire shop was designed with the base unit of the box.

lighting effect from afar

Flatpacking Wu-Gu

One very large aspect of this project is the extensive use of off-site assembly.

Majority of the fitout was flatpacked and assembled off-site, to work in parallel with the site work in order to reduce amount of time required.

The entire off-site process has taken almost as long as the site work to date, which means, without off-site construction planned into the design, the construction time could have been doubled.

Snap shots at the off-site "assembly line" over the past weeks...

arrived all flatpacked...these are only half of the components.

painting of the components before assemblage

...drying...

one of the first few units assembled

colour matching with the sample (the little piece of plywood) - this is a pretty good match. We did have some difficulty with application method, but we ended up with a good result

full-on!!
there are a few types of boxes, some are better painted after assemblage, some are better painted prior

call in the helpers!
the system was designed to minimise skilled labour requirement, so when necessary we can get more people to help

neatly packed!
there are still more to go, but probably 90% done!

Another new start!

Before Meudon has completely finished, we have to make a start on another site last week.

It was a 4am start, in order to minimise any disturbance to neighbours.  

We were starting on building the mezzanine structure to the soon-to-be restaurant first.
Because almost all the intertenancy walls are not structural, the mezzanine is cantilevered on all sides from concrete columns with some help of couple of new steel columns.  As the result the steel members are rather oversized, very heavy to transport indeed.

By end of Day 1, we had most of the mezzanine bones up - hooray~~!

 quietly......

 shhhhhhhh.......

surveying the mezzanine height...

end of Day 1 - someone said it looks like a movie set; I guess it does!!

 one of the complicated steel junctions at top of the stair

Photographing Takara

We photographed Takara at last.

The small Japanese Restaurant at Sydney's Chinatown is a project of experiments.  We tested new ways to consider structure, new materials, new spatial layering...

A lot of newness led to a space very much out of the ordinary.

Looking forward to the finished photos.

softly wrapped seating area

 

A bit more on other projects....

Rounding up some recent publications....

Hospitality:

Powerful imagery of Uchi Lounge has a strong presence in WORKshop issue 08.

Nice to read in the blog of our structural engineer for Uchi Lounge: "...It is interesting how tight budgets and great architects drive great engineering."

I guess true creativity spark when being confined by restrictions...

 Cover of WORKshop issue 08

Watermoon is published by Chinese publishing house Sandu (available via PageOne) in "Taste It! - Innovative Restaurant Interiors".

It is also published by German publishing house Gestalten in "Let's Go Out! - Interiors and Architecture for Restaurants and Bars".

Watermoon was completed in 2010 May.

In the retail / hospitality world, where fitouts require constant renewal, Watermoon is considered an "old project".  Yet it continues to be picked up by publishing houses and gathering attention.  I think this says something about our consistent attitude towards architecture (permanence) and interior (transience).

Cover of "Taste it!"

Cover of "Let's Go Out!"

Retail:

Sneakerology and Streetology continue to gather attention after their completion in 2010 / 2011.  The design took place in 2009.

Again, they should be considered "old projects"....but still looking refreshing and stunning (hopefully I am allowed to say that myself...).

We consider longevity of design = ultimate sustainability 

"Brand Spaces - Branded Architecture and the Future of Retail Design" published by Gestalten (Germany)

  

  

Retail Design International Vol 74 No 5 (US)

Uchi Lounge on ARQA

Uchi Lounge has again shown its international appeal - this time to Argentina!

 

The article is published in ARQA - Argentinian-based web magazine, open community of architecture, construction and design.

Click HERE to see the article!

Facet Studio is everywhere in (inside) 73

We have been interviewed by (inside) magazine!
The interview, covering our projects Seatondale Heritage, M House, and Uchi Lounge,  is published in issue 73, which is available in all good newsagency now!

 The front cover

 

 

This issue of (inside) magazine also published the shortlist of Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2012, which we are shortlisted in 4 categories.. woohoo~
...We are kind of everywhere in this issue...

rear cover

WORKPLACE UNDER 100SQM - CONNECT SYDNEY

HOSPITALITY - UCHI LOUNGE

EMERGING DESIGNER - FACET STUDIO
INTERNATIONAL PROJECT - M HOUSE