Today, it was finally time to begin sculpting the Avallena's hull. The bottom portion of the hull is upside down at the moment which makes it easier to sculpt. About two thirds of the planks were finished today. Tomorrow, the remainder of the "planks" will be troweled into place and then carved with a realistic woodgrain. It is very exciting to see this signature piece of the North Star suite come to life!
Many of the sculptures in the North Star's garden are rather large to say the least. Two of the largest are the elephant on the wall and the sleeping giant. It is going to be a magical garden!
There is definitely an elephant in the Imagination Corporation's shop of late - and it is larger than life! We are currently sculpting the 'cut stone' elephant head for the corner of the retaining wall for the Hazelnut Inn. To get a sense of scale, the head measures just over 12' tall. We had to build this JUMBO (pardon the pun) feature laying down in order to fit it out of the shop door when we are done. It will stay horizontal until it is lifted into place on the property next door in a few weeks. The Hazelnut Inn is definitely going to be hard to miss when you drive by!
As we patiently wait for final official permissions to proceed with the construction of Hazelnut Inn we are hard at work around the edges of the project. The septic field is now installed and the final grading of the backyard is complete. Just before quitting time today we began the planting of the seed for the 8,000 square foot backyard lawn. Very soon this area will be a lush green lawn. This will be the private area of Peter & Hailey’s residence. The picture below is taken from my studio’s windows where I will be able to watch my grandchildren play as I work. It is going to be wonderful having all my family so close!
When my dad, Peter's grampa, who was a carpenter for much of his working life, visits our projects he shakes his head and comments on how we tend to 'overbuild.' Because we often build with steel, our projects need to be engineered. The engineers always make sure they are plenty strong! But I hate failures and the way to avoid them is to 'over engineer.' We tend to overbuild in critical areas. Our structures need to survive being moved around our shop, loading with cranes, transport by land and sea (often many thousands of miles), and finally, installation on site. And all of this happens before our projects are even put into service! Then they have to perform as designed for years under heavy use. Decades of practical experience has taught us how to build to last and the Hazelnut Inn will definitely be build to last!
When it came time to design the ship's roof for the Hazelnut Inn we pulled out the stops. The design is complex with a variable pitch from front to back and along with a protruding ship's mast. The truss assembly was built as per the engineers instructions. The steel roof is made from 1/8" thick 10 gauge steel. It will have channel iron ribs welded on every sixteen inches. Then we'll waterproof it inside and out for good measure. It will get four inches of a closed cell spray foam inside as well for insulation. This roof won't leak. Ever. We guarantee it!
All of the physical progress we have made to date on the Hazelnut Inn project will soon be buried and out of sight. Engineered fill, pipes, conduits, catch basins, septic fields and on and on. All of this necessary work is almost complete. We, along with many sidewalk superintendents can hardly wait!
