Behind the plywood: beneath the skin

Beauty may only be skin deep, but what really matters is what lies beneath.

In the case of a restaurant, what lies beneath are conduits, pipes, ducts, and wires. The photos below offer a glimpse of all the stuff that is winding through the walls, floors, and ceiling of Contigo and, in one form or another, every restaurant you've ever eaten in.

It has taken my electricians, plumbers, and HVAC technicians four months to convert what used to be a computer services store into what will soon be a bustling neighborhood restaurant. Their work is what will make my restaurant tick. It won't be visible and, to be honest, will probably only get noticed when it stops functioning properly. Nevertheless, there is a distinct beauty to this infrastructure. The following dozen images taken over the past few months offer a chance to appreciate and admire the hard work of my electricians, plumbers, and HVAC installers.

Now that the building's veins, nerves, and intestines are in place and (hopefully) in good working order, the next step is the skin. The drywall team has been busy on that end for the past week or two, so expect pictures soon. The space is really starting to look like a restaurant! From now on, things will start to move fast and changes will be more dramatic.

Comments

[art]

That's a lot of copper. Like everything else these days it costs a lot more than it used to. In Chicago, many restaurants and buildings with exposed copper tubing are getting it ripped right out by thieves.

Are you going to have a maintenance contract with your HVAC company or do you have a good reliable engineer who can handle the system on a moment's notice?

Do you have a plan for handling preventative/ongoing maintenance of your refrigeration, stoves, ovens and broilers?

[Sean]

Mmm ... building guts. I too have always held a fascination and appreciation for the mechanical beauty of piping, ductwork, conduit and other architectural arteries.

[Diane]

How nice to appreciate this! I am a construction Project Manager. My favorite part of my job is being on job sites when things are being installed. It's exciting to see the "bones" and to see it all come together.

Plus - as a keen amateur cook, I often think there is a similarity between building and cooking. There is all this "behind the scenes" stuff that makes the beautiful end result happen. The guts and process are oftn as much fun, or more, than the end result. And with like most things the quality of the ingredients makes the quality of the final product. You get good (but not necessarily fancy!) ingredients or materials, installed carefully by people who take pride in their work, and you get a great building. Or dinner.

[emi]

Sad to hear that your restaurant will not open until later this summer! It's been a treat seeing it come into itself. Definitely am looking forward to finally seeing Contigo now that I'm living in the city. :)

[Busby SEO Challenge]

it is rainy season here in our place and behind our plywood ceiling something is dripping down to the floor... rain water ! :-) honestly!

Busby SEO challenge

KabonFootPrint

[Busby SEO Test]

very informative details thanks for that, nice article