Ecco Shoes spent a half day with us last week shooting a lifestyle piece they’re working on for next year. I snapped a couple of shots of them in action and in the process captured the finished patio and the blending of openness and privacy achieved by the architects.
The Outdoor Kitchen, custom fabricated by Robert Yick & Co., has been installed. As you can see it commands a significant presence on the deck outside the kitchen. The square stainless covers conceal and protect institutional-grade wok and side burners. The horizontal handle is a Viking outdoor plate warmer and the black dome is real charcoal BBQ (with gas charcoal starter) surgically extracted from a Weber Performer.
At 06:30 today—despite specific instructions not to and understandably annoying some neighbors (please accept our apologies)—Wassau Tile delivered 300 concrete pavers for installation on deck and roof areas. No sooner were they finished unloading when PG&E arrived a day early to connect 55 Sheridan to the power grid, further annoying the neighbors. Once we explained that the trucker delivered contrary to instructions, that we placed our application with PG&E well over a year ago, that PG&E mentioned only “installing a meter” and considered ourselves &@#$*ing lucky to have power at all, everyone kind of calmed down.
Lundberg Design presented their proposal for the entry courtyard and studio doors today. They suitably impressed us. Included below for comparison to anticipated later photos of the real thing, is a cut-out of the design PDF. Of cold rolled steel it will be made.
The architects have covered almost all the exterior of the building in an artful combination of API panels and glass. There’s also strategically placed steel propping the whole thing up. Then there’s places where none of those could go. That’s where the stucco (courtesy of Burlingame Plastering & Stucco) comes in. One of their crew overlooks mixing below (R). We love Tadao Ando’s concrete. The architects frowned at us and informed that such was not in our budget. Maybe next time. So we have stucco masquerading as concrete. GOMENNASAI (sorry) Ando-san. The image below shows fourth floor street-facing deck festooned with the first rough application of our budget-saving stucco. That black i-beam overhead will one day sport outdoor propane heaters.
The temporary platform built and used by Whiteside Construction to pour the concrete cap atop the garden wall, afforded a new view of how the rear of the building is shaping up. Saturday-working Burlingame Plastering & Stucco crew can be seen near the roof level.
Wow. Go away for a week and look what appeared in the back yard! This will be the circular water feature and garden bench. Not visible in these photos, but the top of the garden wall now sports a trim-looking concrete cap, consuming that ugly rebar stubble that sprouted from the top of the wall ever since the shotcrete work was done a year ago.
The pros from Whiteside Construction who poured the foundation and each of the upper floors have returned to work their magic on the garden circular water feature and other elements. We had asked architect Steve Kikuchi to propose a design that would look different and interesting from each level. Even at this early stage, it appears he succeeded.
We’re not sure, but we think this may be the first example in SF of bay windows popping out of API panels.
