Artichoke interviewed Facet Studio on "A Day in the Life"

Facet Studio is on Artichoke magazine issue 34 - Q and A'ed about our practice and how we work, who we are etc.

Check it out and let us know what you think!



Artichoke is a design magazine which covers interior architecture and design, textile design, product design, exhibition design and graphic design, and provides designers with news and information on current trends and projects.

Another day on site

Some M House updates from Yoshi, who is now in the snowy weather of Niigata, Japan ....looking out our office to see the perfect blue sky in Sydney, I don't envy him..... at all.....

out of Facet Studio office window....perfect blue sky in Sydney today

what a stark contrast with the Northern hemisphere winter! Yoshi was having meeting with our builder, Mr Otsuki, on M House site discussing about window frame details (see the sketch book in the foreground)

comparing the different grade of timber floor - there is a definite difference, although all samples are from the same timber specices

inside the house. Timber sub structure is installed for plasterboard wall finish installation later. The floor level inside the house is raised, and the heat generators will heat up the space below floor for even heat distribution in winter (the bottom of the timber sub structure is where the floor will be)

ArchDaily likes us too!

Our project, Habitat Antique is on ArchDaily!

(Read the article HERE)




ArchDaily is one of the leading and most influential architectural website, with a single mission: the best architecture around the world, as soon as possible.

It has over two million visits and eighteen million page impressions per month.

milestone on Railway Parade

We have successfully submitted combined Development Application and Construction Certificate for our project, Railway Parade .......yaii!!

Every building project goes through a process of birth pain, now we have just past the first trimester for this project pregnancy - with all the brainstorming, explorations, and endless studies...at last! we can feel a little more safe about this baby.

submission materials in piles....

Railway Parade is heading into tender phase, and looking at completion towards end of 2011.

Looks like designboom likes us!

Our project, S House, is on designboom!

(Read the article HERE)

What a great way to start a week!!



designboom is a web-based magazine on art, architecture and design, with 4.2 million readers per month.

It was selected by TIME Magazine in 2007 as one of the top 100 design influencers in the world.

Facet Studio is on ArchDaily!

Our project, Studio SPEC, was published on ArchDaily!

(you can read the article HERE)

We are very excited about all the positive responses we have received from clients, press, and people we are working with - conceiving an idea is difficult, making the idea into reality is even more challenging. And to be recognised after completion.... feels like firework!

A big "thank you" from us!



ArchDaily is one of the leading and most influential architectural website, with a single mission: the best architecture around the world, as soon as possible.

It has over two million visits and eighteen million page impressions per month.

.....And the answer is......

The answer to yesterday's small quiz was:

SNOW BAR RAIL SYSTEM

(Congratulations Andrew from NSW for getting this right!)

In a location prone to heavy snow, like Niigata where M House is, snow accumulate on the roof can slide off in large quantity.

This can cause damage to property (such as car parked below the eaves) or even people who happen to stand below when snow slide happens.

It is far safer to keep the snow on the roof, and clean it off when weather permits.

heavy snow at Niigata - to the right in the background, snow slide is caught in action on the photo

after heavy snow in Niigata, the amount of snow accumulated on the roof can be quite substantial. It is better to go clean off the snow when weather permits, and people are prepared

snow bar in action....(best photo I could find...). Amazing how these thin bars can hold so much snow! We were concerned about how the bars will look, but safety comes first!

Up on the roof

Something I noticed on the M House site photos the other day....

What do  you think it is?  Have a guess!

Facet Studio is on designboom!

We are very excited that our project, Tea Room, has been
published on designboom! (read the article HERE)
designboom is a web-based magazine on art, architecture and design, with 4.2 million readers per month. It was selected
by TIME Magazine in 2007 as one of the top 100 design influencers
in the world.

Live Broadcasting

Today, we had life broadcasting from M House site! After lobbying our Japanese builders for months, we have finally convinced them to install wireless network on site, and now we can have video conference on site across continents, even together with the structure engineer from the other side of Japan.... oh the convenience of technology.....
Having overseas projects now is made easier with internet and Skype...it felt like we were on site!

a very excited Yoshi (and me holding the camera..)

the builder is walking through the house with the web camera....action packed (for us anyway)!

glazing between the roof rafters letting in gentle natural light, brightened up the interior

M House Roof Up Ceremony 上棟式

Just like the title of this entry....ROOF IS UP!

There was a humble ceremony held on site on Jan 29, one reason is to celebrate a major milestone, and the other reason to pay regard, and pray to God for a safe construction through out.

the client and his wife to the left, with a small setup for the ceremony inside the house - undercover and away from weather

the roof is up - still waiting to install gutter and complete flashing, but it is up! we love the sharpness or the lines and the muted natural colour scheme of the material... window and door frames are also installed (visible behind all the scaffolding)

edge of the steel roof was manually folded on site in such precision and crispness. flashing is to go between the roof sheeting and top of the rafters

close up of the roof sheetings

inside view of the timber ceiling. skylight spans perfectly between 2 structural bays, as we have studied last year

component study model of the skylight, as of blog entry dated Nov 28 2010 ....yes I like it very much when things turn out the way we have designed...

view within the house... compare with the study model (below), as of blog entry Nov 11 2010

study model, photo dated Nov 11 2010

our excited and nervous clients.... it is becoming so real! so soon!