Hasta La Ideas

This shimmering metal-clad factory in Osaka was designed by Japanese architect Takeshi Hamada to echo the clean and fashionable style of the company’s employees (+ slideshow)

The D Labo factory houses a printing company, whose products include manuals for electronic products and brochures for construction material manufacturers. Takeshi Hamada was asked to create a building that would suit the company image, but also fit in with the the surrounding residential neighbourhood.

“The client’s company […] has an image quite different to the usual image of a printing factory”, said Hamada. “When I visited their main factory, I saw fashionably dressed company employees at Macintosh computers working on graphic design. I decided that a simple, sharp design would be best suited to their corporate image.”

The architect clad the exterior with white metal panels. The only embellishments are the black letters that spell out the company name.

Unlike its neighbours, the building has a flat roof, intended to maximise space inside for storage and unpacking.

The interior is completely white, with a large entrance at one end and a small office in the rear corner.

Strip windows run along the front and rear elevations to reduce the reliance on artificial light. “The design focuses on the lines formed by the wall panels and the position of lighting to create an orderly interior,” added Hamada.

Other architectural projects by Takeshi Hamada include a house designed to look as simple as a block of tofu and a residence with an arched entrance.

See more architecture by Takeshi Hamada »
See more architecture in Japan »

Photography is by Yohei Sasakura.

Here’s a brief project description by Takeshi Hamada:

D Labo

The property is in Tsurumi Ward in Osaka City, a zone for industrial use. One road over to the east is zoned for light industry, and the tone of the area is quite different. There are rows of houses from where one can hear the sounds of children playing innocently. Although the land to be constructed on is zoned exclusively for industry, the design needed to be adapted as much as possible to fit the residential environment.

The client company is a printing company engaged in work such as planning instruction manuals for major electronics manufacturers and construction materials manufacturers. They have an image quite different to the usual image of a printing factory.

When I visited their main factory, I saw fashionably-dressed company employees at Macintosh computers working on graphic design. The overall impression was that of a modern IT corporation.

I decided that a simple, sharp design would be best suited to the corporate image of this printing company and the sophisticated precision work they perform, such as fine-tuning the design of instruction manuals and other documentation for precise electronic devices. This decision was reflected in the choice of metal sandwich panels (Isoband) surrounding a cuboid space, the desired space for storage and unpacking of materials was achieved. A minimum of signage on the front completes the design.

The interior is entirely, including the panel framework, painted pure white. The space is stark, containing nothing other than printing machinery, so the design focuses on the lines formed by the wall panels and the position of lighting to create an orderly interior.

Name of construction: D Labo
Location: Osaka City, Tsurumi Ward
Period of construction: April, 2012 to September, 2012
Extent of structure: steel-frame construction, single-storey
Purpose of use: printing factory
Land area: 284.46 sqm
Building area: 170.00 sqm
Total floor area: 157.55 sqm

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Touring and tasting at the NYC distillery’s new Brooklyn Navy Yard locale

“People are often expecting something more intense from the moonshine,” said Kings County Distillery co-owner Colin Spoelman as he passed out samples of the signature clear, unaged white corn whiskey made at his Brooklyn-based micro-distillery. The tasting took place at the end of a recent tour of the distillery’s…

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See the manufacturing process at Cone Mills

Generally considered the arbiter of denim, Self Edge recently took a trip to Greensboro, North Carolina to visit the world’s oldest denim mill and document the making of Roy‘s new denim. Designed from warp to weft by Roy Slaper himself, the custom denim also marks the first unsanforized fabric produced by Cone Mills for anyone in more than 60 years.

The insightful short shows the fabric come to life as huge scans of simultaneously selected thread move through the denim production process and into massive vats of 100% pure indigo dye. Whipped around like salt water taffy the denim strands are eventually woven together to form brilliantly dark raw denim weighing in at 14.5oz per square yard—which actually swells to 16.25oz after a hot water soak. Described by Self Edge as simply a “tough fabric,” the new Roy denim is dyed with the darkest indigo Cone to produce a unique wash that’ll only evolve with age.

The new run of Roy jeans have been tweaked to improve fit and will be available in an adjusted version of Roy’s straight and slim fits. Look to Self Edge in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City this Saturday, 24 March 2012 when the latest Roy jeans will go on sale at 12pm in each respective time zone and online at 9am (PDT).

Behind the scenes at the Jameson Distillery with Master Distiller Barry Crockett

John Jameson’s Dublin distillery was founded in 1780, guided by the family motto “Sine Metu”, meaning without fear. To this day, those words appear on every bottle of Irish whisky. At the original distillery, located next to Smithfield Market, Jameson used well water, searched for superior strains of barley, sought out high quality casks and believed the whisky should be matured in cool, damp cellars. Eventually, he built larger warehouses that captured rainwater to recreate such conditions, and by 1890 Irish whiskey had become one of the most popular whiskeys in the world.

Later, because of Prohibition in the U.S. and the consequentially insurmountable tariff barriers in England, there was decline in the market which led to the demise of many Irish whiskey companies and, eventually, to the formation of the Irish Distillers Group. In 1971, Jameson’s Bow Street distillery stopped operations and all production was moved to the Midleton Distillery in Cork.

Back in Dublin, tours of the Bow Street Distillery in Smithfield Village continue today, recounting the legacy and proud heritage of Irish whiskey. Visitors can watch a short documentary film, take the tour and enjoy the tasting room and restaurant. The distillery building is also the setting for special events including the Jameson Global Party on St. Patrick’s Day.

We went behind the scenes of the public tasting tours at the Jameson Experience in Cork to meet the core team. The steps behind the sourcing and repairing of casks was presented inside the coopers’ workshop, revealing a process of connecting flawless pieces of oak cut precisely according to the wood’s rings, that has remained relatively unchanged throughout the years.

We met the current master distiller Barry Crockett, who apprenticed under his father, master distiller Max Crockett, to learn the age-old trade. During lunch with the junior Crockett in his childhood home, we learned about the triple distillation process Jameson has perfected since 1790, and the five-year aging period for the single-pot still and grain whiskey blends.

Since the beginning, “Jameson has been made using same type of equipment and methods, but the product made today is cleaner more refined and sweeter that would have been possible with the old equipment in the late 1700s,” says Crockett. “With the higher level of control with the modern equipment and controls we can achieve a finer quality of spirit.”

“Irish whiskey has always been different to Scottish and American whiskeys,” says Crockett. “The fact that makes it different is the production technique, which is part of what we do. The use of high proportions of barley, harvested locally which gives it a very unique flavor and taste to the whiskey. The barley in my view offers a type of apple, pear or peach type aroma. You will find that very much in all of the Irish whiskies. It also gives a smooth even mouthy effect that lends to a more soft and sweet aftertaste.”

There’s a section of the cottage being transformed to better showcase the history of the brand. “Jameson has a strong story in term of its heritage, imagery, and we are advancing that imagery by getting our archives together to display,” says Crockett. “We know when people are coming here. The principal thing is to understand why it is a popular whiskey in the first place.”

While the company focuses primarily on filling orders, Crockett’s main responsibility lies in developing single-origin pot still expressions. “These certainly show the consumer public that Irish whiskey is not just Jameson, but is also able to present a range of different flavor characteristics,” he explains. “We believe the single-origin pot still range will do for Irish whiskey what the concept of single malt did for Scotland.” Crockett says that their goal is to launch one to two new single pot still whiskeys each year.

Our tour concluded at the Jameson warehouses, where up to 36,000 barrels are stored upright on rows of palettes. When asked what he’d want to drink if he were stranded on a desert island, Crockett answered, “Jameson 18-year-old, or the Legacy.”

Architects Foster + Partners have completed a production centre for British sports car brand McLaren.

The facility has wide spans offering maximum assembly space while the basement is used for storage and machinery and a mezzanine offers a view of the production line.

High-performance sports cars are manufactured, painted and tested on a linear production line that dictated the building’s rectilinear form.

The McLaren Technology Centre’s curved surfaces and horizontal aluminium cladding reference the existing buildings on the site in Woking near London.

An underground tunnel will link the production centre to the McLaren Technology Centre, which was also designed by Foster + Partners.

Trees screen the building from the nearby road and the whole structure is sunk into the incline of the site, reducing its visual impact on the landscape.

Foster + Partners recently completed another transport facility – the world’s first commercial spaceport – and also unveiled a proposal for a massive transport hub in the Thames. See all of our previous stories on Foster + Partners.

All photography is from McLaren. The drawings below are from Foster + Partners.

Here’s some more information from Foster + Partners:

The McLaren Production Centre is the second building designed by Foster + Partners at McLaren’s rural site on the outskirts of London. The 34,500-square-metre facility is intended for the manufacture of a range of high-performance road cars and is located to the south-west of the existing McLaren Technology Centre. The two buildings will be connected by a subterranean walkway, lined with interactive exhibition spaces. Sharing a common language of details and materials, the new building is clad in aluminium tubes, the rounded corners of its rectilinear plan reference the curves of the Technology Centre and the entrance, echoing the existing building, is a circular glass drum beneath the overhang of the roof canopy.

The state-of-the-art McLaren Production Centre is located to the south-west of the existing McLaren Technology Centre. The two buildings are connected by a subterranean walkway and share a common language of details and materials. The entrance, echoing the existing building, is a circular glass drum beneath the overhang of the roof canopy.

As a manufacturing facility, the building is inherently flexible, with a wide span between columns and fully integrated services. The linear arrangement of the two-storey structure mirrors the flow of the production line: components are delivered; the cars are assembled, painted and tested, and then pass through a rolling road and car wash, before leaving the building. Beneath this floor there is a full basement level for storage and plant and above is a mezzanine floor with views over the production line. Every stage of production takes place under the same roof. Initially it will take 10 days for an MP4-12C to be assembled; at peak production it will be possible to build one in five days, with a new car joining the line every 45 minutes.

Although the McLaren Production Centre represents a major increase in McLaren’s capabilities at its Woking campus, the building is dug into in the gentle incline of the site, to give it a discreet presence in the landscape. The lower floor is sunk completely below ground and the superstructure is almost invisible from the nearby road, with further screening provided by extensive tree planting.

The new McLaren Production Centre is designed to be environmentally efficient. The roof collects rainwater and has been designed to integrate photovoltaic panels in future; and the building incorporates a low-energy system of displacement ventilation. No soil was removed from the site, and all excavated material has been used to conceal the building within the green-belt landscape.

Lord Foster, Founder and Chairman, Foster + Partners: “The McLaren Production Centre is a further leap forward in the evolution of industrial buildings, both socially and in terms of working conditions and technologically in its flexibility and the sophistication of its services integration. The scale and grandeur of the main hall is a fitting complement to the purity of the McLaren cars, which will emerge from its production line. This project has been a wonderful opportunity to work once again with Ron Dennis, who is a great patron and friend. It is a testament to a fantastic team effort that this production centre was achieved in just twelve months.”

David Nelson, Head of Design at Foster + Partners, said: “It has been great to have the opportunity to build on the success of the Technology Centre by continuing our collaboration with McLaren, particularly our close working relationship with Ron Dennis. The project presented a unique set of challenges, from the constraints of the site to the operational demands of the different processes. McLaren’s work is incredibly precise – in many ways, the production line is like an operating theatre – the architecture reflects this with an industrial building of the highest quality in every detail. As well as drawing on the understanding we gained with the Technology Centre, the Production Centre echoes its minimal aesthetic – visually, they can be seen as a family of buildings, unified by a common language of finishes and a consistent materials palette.”

Nigel Dancey, a design director at Foster + Partners, said: “It is a privilege to design two companion buildings for the same client and it has been a great experience. While the McLaren Technology Centre took six years to design and build, the fast- track programme meant that the McLaren Production Centre was completed in a third of the time. The same team has worked on both buildings and this continuity has helped to make this ambitious timescale possible. We were also able to draw on the wider capabilities of our studio: the McLaren Production Centre is a great example of integrated design, with services built into the structure to create a highly flexible space.”

Click above for larger image 

Iwan Jones, a partner at Foster + Partners, said: “Our intention was to design a new kind of industrial building, which would be an elegant addition to the McLaren Technology Centre. The two buildings are physically connected by a 100-metre- long tunnel and unified by a common architectural language – we established a ‘kit-of-parts’ system for the project, a family of finishes and details. By optimising structural spans to allow a largely clear floor space, we have essentially created a big empty box, with services integrated within the structural zones, wall and floor voids.

Click above for larger image 

This flexible form ensures that the building is also highly cost efficient – it will support McLaren’s production needs today and in the future. And the experience of the finished McLaren Production Centre is equally impressive. You don’t realise its scale until you are actually inside the assembly hall, where visitors will have a fantastic view of the different processes from the viewing gallery.”