It is getting very close.. Day 9 at Bay Road Hair Studio site is again full house. I must say I am impressed with the punctuality and professionalism displayed by all trades, with the given limited space and time, everyone simply got on with what they needed to do with minimum fuss, and with the best craftsmanship possible.
Flow of the day was: 07:00-11:00 builder completing mirror frame 11:00-16:00 joinery installation to rear half of shop 14:00-17:30 wall tiling 17:30-18:00 clean up
... Not one wasted minute....
Day 10 is Sunday... A day to rest, for a stronger push on Days 11 & 12!!
We arrived on site at Bay Road Hair Studio on the 8th Day into construction, when it was starting to get dark outside.
There was an unspoken tranquility in the little space, within the lovely setting overlooking the bay outside.
The builders finished boarding up the wall frames, ready for tiling on the next day, and started working on the frames for the mirrors. The frames house a few functions: mirror, lighting, table for customers, hanger for hairdresser tools.. And we just threw in mitre corners to add to the fun.
We have worked with our builder Ken quite a few times now (Watermoon, Uchi Lounge, Phamish..) and it is funny how he always started out complaining about how tricky our projects are, but always ended up gracing over the projects with loving and proud glance.
Today we had electricians (x2) and builders (x2) on site. Oh, and architects (x2), interior designer (x1)... With a small site like Bay Road Hair Studio it feels very packed and everyone was courteous to one another to respect the space they needed to work on. It was very nice to see people checking with each other before they do something, to ensure no one would be inconvenienced. It is also our job to ensure that there will not be an "overcrowded" situation on site, with working areas and trades overlapping, which leads to a stressful construction site.
Today wall framing are up and ceiling grid adjustment was being tested at Bay Road Hair Studio.
At the midpoint of our construction program (yes, we have 12 days to complete majority of the construction, and scope of work is rather extensive), things have been largely going on schedule and smoothly.
Today due to grouting (application of mortar cement between tiles), site has to remain rather clean hence it was a very quiet day, more so for builders to prepare for the next task - wall building tomorrow.
Yesterday on site we leveled the floor with cement, to prepare for tiling next week.
Due to the minimal time we have for construction, it was very important to plan everything out as much as possible To not waste anytime on site, leveling should be done on Saturday to allow adequate drying over Sunday; to lay concrete for leveling means all plumbing rough-in underfloor need to do done by Friday afternoon; to enable underfloor plumbing, floor finish removal should take priority in demolition and finish by mid morning... Etc etc... Pretty much setting a goal (project completion) and working backwards.
So far everything has been progressing smoothly, and everyone on site and neighbors seem to be excited about the future transformation... I can't wait.
2 weeks ago we had a party to celebrate the completion of our new office.. it was fantastic to see so many friends at the same place mingling together, and definitely has warmed up the space for us!
We started preparation around 2 hours before the party was starting... other than Phin who had a clear idea of what she was going to make, due to an extremely busy week the conversation at that point in time was more like: "lets make some canapes" "sound good! but what is canape?" "let me google it.."
But hey! it was all part of the fun!
Ready for the party?!
Phin making dumpling from scratch, JJ is there to help
Mariona and Spanish omelettes
friends started to arrive for the night
students from UNSW also joined us
amazing how many people we managed to fit in the space!
mingling..
Yoshi starting to look drunk...
it was incidentally last day of Phin's internship with us.. we are going to miss her, especially Mariona!
Oops.....I was caught stealing a bite....
Lets not forget about JJ's famous cheesecake!
And here comes the secrete entertainment of the night!!
an excited crowd!
mission accomplished! Facet's Jamsession
Special thanks to Shunsuke for training Yoshi to dance and organised the T-shirts in a flash!! Well and of course for the fantastic breakdance!
(There was in fact an extended encore after this video was taken..)
happily drunk...
after party anyone?
Thank you everyone for coming, it was great to see you all and we should do this again!!
With the amount of work and crazy rain, I thought I was sure to miss out... luckily I was able to make it on its closing night (during the one hour it did not rain!).
Here are some photos .. the display of light (and great integration with soundtracks this year) has become increasingly elaborate and choreographed, challenging the limitation of light and colour project in its capability of creating illusions and expectations.
Again I am reminded, we are living in a beautiful city.
crawling on the Opera House sails...
...or turning into Transformer....
the newly renovated Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA)
the newly renovated MCA - somehow reminds me of one scene from Batman
...driving through a tunnel of flourishing Van Gogh...
...or looking at city scape from above, while standing looking at Custom House's facade...
which then sprouts into cheerful flowers
(I am still trying to work out how to upload my video of the Custom House projection from Youtube to the blog... I guess that will happen in due course)
