23rd Dec 2022 Friday- office Christmas lunch

 

Quick lines on paper

Everyday coffee shop items are used in un-usual ways - plastic stools become the ceiling and screens for the dining rooms and enamel crockery from the 70's are used as part of signage and decor.

ideas for the food court renovation

Ideas for the food court were mostly captured in a small A5 sketch book - easy to carry around and even easier to fill the pages on a two-hour flight between Kuching and Penang.

Small and thin, I am likely to finish all the pages in a week - most satisfying.

ideas for way finding signage

Later, I showed this sketch to Fiona who did her magic

showing the location of this proposed banner

more banners

ideas for the food court renovation

The Food Gallery was originally designed as the generic type of food court found in a shopping centre; one with something for everyone. In recent years, the clientele had changed; moving away from family groups towards young professionals wanting a conducive environment for a working lunch. The client decided to re-vamp the image of their food court - aimed for a more contemporary feel and experience.

Everyday coffee shop items are used in un-usual ways - plastic stools become the ceiling and screens for the dining rooms and enamel crockery from the 70's are used as part of signage and decor.

We wanted to invoke the experience of eating street food; at the market, along the five foot way in the old part of town. Using the more intangible elements - the silhouette of the concertina grilles that allude to the Chinatown shop fronts while the incandescent light tubes are reminiscent of the market at night. 
The new furniture are re-designed with simpler and cleaner lines that might remind patrons of their school days; sitting on benches, sharing stories and food. Perhaps this is more than a re-vamping or face-lift because it goes beyond the skin - it is more like a coming of age.

Getting there

At the end of May, the first floor of the shop house was gutted and cleaned up. The floorboards are strong in some places, springy in others and rotten through in most - they will be removed and replaced. The wall plaster was bulging with damp - they will be removed as well BUT not replaced.

Bathing under the stairs

Following on from the previous post...
We decide to relocate the stairs to the rear of the building to allow for an open floor plan on the upper floor But this meant the introduction of stairs in the rear 'lobby' and since this is a tight space, it looked like the existing bathroom will have to go, which ruined my visions of running to work. Without a bathroom, this can be tricky - will the budget hotel nearby lend me their shower? how many wet-wipes will it take to clean a 180-lb body? questions abound..
So, on the plane to Penang - I decided to put my planning skills (and maths) to the test..

So finally we worked out 1. how to get upstairs 2. while keeping our balance, 3. and the bathroom under the stairs, 4. without knocking our heads when we come in the back door, 5. hopefully with enough space for my bike under the stairs.

...it works!

more soon.