Jagged Edges

The old guardhouse used these broken mirrors with jagged edges to be able to see the oncoming vehicles.  We've replaced them with decent car side mirrors.

Putting all that glass in this tiny space made it a virtual greenhouse that heated up when enclosed so we added louvred windows.  I wish that in my original design, I was able to anticipate this and plan more properly.  If I could redo this over, I would put in more louvres but then it would be too costly to overhaul the design at this stage.  The measures put in place seem enough to ventilate the room.  

 I had this shoddy work repeated.  If you look at the original guardhouse, the carpenter took care hammering the nails in evenly spaced and the GI sheet is applied flat on the hardiflex.  I should have called attention to this earlier because I was already observing something was wrong before this was painted.   However, I think my reflexes are a bit slow to react and it takes staring long at pictures before I spot the mistake.  But at least, there's still time to correct it.

Before & After Pics

Here are the "before and after" pictures of the recently concluded project:  

Before the renovation, this is how the room looked like on the second floor:

After the renovation, the room looks like this:

This is what the space originally looked like before we added the spiral staircase and walled it in:

The yellow wall behind the big blue post is where the entryway to the spiral staircase is now located.

Here's the final spiral staircase:

I couldn't get the angle I wanted because the area was filled with boxes so I just made this Frankenstein of a photo montage:

Most important take-away from this project:  choose your supplier carefully.  Don't rush in choosing or else if you pick the wrong supplier, you can end up paying more.

Hooray!

 Last Sunday, the temporary wall was taken down and we were able to cross the project finish line!  We can finally enter the spiral staircase from below and the pantry upstairs can be used. 

The stainless steel kitchen counter and shelves arrived Saturday and the workmanship was quite shoddy.  The shelves weren't on straight and the underside looked a bit ugly.  They didn't even bother to remove the pentel pen marks. I had asked the supplier if I can visit their manufacturing site while the counter was being made and they said they don't allow customers in the workshop.  Hmmm.  I wonder if there's a stainless steel fabricator who lets their client view their work because next time, I'd like to make sure I can see the job while it's done to ensure quality.  The problem  with suppliers is when they have a lot of job orders, quality suffers and there's no sense of responsibility.  When they deliver, they just take the payment and go. 

At the other side of town, work continues on the guardhouse.  I had the front window changed into louvre type because when all the doors are closed, it gets hot inside.  There has to be a way for the hot air to escape.  We're currently putting in more louvres in spots where we can. 

 The rain still gets in through the wood and glass joints so this still needs to be solved.

Varekai in Manila

We are so so lucky to have witnessed the extreme artistry of Cirque du Soleil here in Manila thanks to my stepdad who generously treated us to an extra-ordinary, amazing wonder.  My son Joshua was transfixed the whole time.  Would love to gush over every detail but somebody else succinctly expresses what the show is all about.

Writer and director, Dominic Champagne wrote this which was included in the not-your-usual souvenir program:

"Since these are crazy times and it is our duty not to surrender the world into the hands of fools, may this show be for you as it has been for me a celebration of the coming together of brothers and sisters and of the joy of challenging limits.

"Let yourself be swept away by the courage and beauty of these acrobats, dancers and actors, who, every day, wherever the wind may take them, risk their lives trying to attain the sublime to touch the sky, to defy the law of gravity and to dance in the fires of volcanoes so that they can tell the world that something else is possible."

Day and Night

During the day, work goes on here at the guardhouse.

While from 9pm to 5am, this is the only time work can continue on the finishing the spiral shaft where the pace has slowed because of the space limitation.

Thanks Mia

I left the Architecture world ten years ago and so when my friend Mia invited me to critique her students work at the new School of Design and Art at the De La Salle University College of St. Benilde, I tossed and turned and hoped I could give a valid excuse to say "no" because what the heck am I going to contribute to her class when I feel like I'm just starting in the field over again from scratch, from zero, from nothing.  Mia and I worked in the same architecture firm a long time ago, but while Mia went on to open her own firm and has been practicing architecture ever since graduation, I chucked architecture out the window and switched (non-) careers two times since then.  

However, I was reading this book that got me convinced I have to say "yes" because it's an invitation from a dear friend.  

The book proved to be right because the experience was rewarding in many aspects.  First, I was able to see and an admire and incredible building worthy of a school nurturing artists and designers.  The views over Manila are fantastic and natural ventilation works in the corridors.  Second, I was able to reconnect with another dear friend who also serves in the school and who was my super inspiring mentor when I was doing my architecture thesis.  Third, I was able to help out Mia in her class and fourth, it was a lot of fun giving constructive comments to the students, feeling a lot like Simon Cowell but with the kindness of Paula Abdul.  It was great to see what the future of architecture may look like and to re-live memories back when I was a student and the world ahead was wide wide open and architecture was just the most awesome thing in it.

Here's Arch. Mia Quimpo before her classroom.   The other advantage of this school is that they don't pack the classes and Mia only had 18 students.  Upon entering her classroom, I felt like one of those fictional movie characters frozen in cryogenic state for eons who suddenly finds herself jolted awake in a different era.  Each student had a laptop and did all their drawings, plans and perspectives in the computer while I belonged to that age when we drew with paper, pencil and the drafting board wasn't just a table for sleek silver Macs.   Simply mind-blowing how the world marches forward.

Here's a video of the school building: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVy08CiObuM

Break on Through to the Other Side

 The spiral staircase shaft is ready to be connected to the main room on the ground floor.  Working in such cramped, airless space makes it more difficult and time-consuming to do any task and as usual, I underestimated the time it takes to finish the job.  This time and cost estimation is something I have to improve and rectify and learning along the way is quite pocket-draining but may be the only way at this point. 

This is the frame of the false wall that we're putting up on the other side of the staircase.  Work now is only limited during off-hours so that the customers won't be bothered by the construction noise.

This is the false wall in place with all the joints masking taped many times over to ensure that no dust enters the room.

It starts with a little hole that becomes the new entryway.  But there is still a lot to go before we can take down the false wall -- refine and paint the staircase, form the additional cement steps needed to meet the ground floor on the other side, tile the floors, repaint the walls and ensure that no dirt or smell is there when we finally remove the temporary wall.

                                          You know the day destroys the night 
                                          Night divides the day 
                                          Tried to run 
                                          Tried to hide 
                                          Break on through to the other side 
                                          Break on through to the other side 
                                          Break on through to the other side, yeah 

                                                                                           The Doors