Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Upcycling on a big scale

I am currently quite distracted due to the start of a very big upcycling project. We bought an old factory in the inner west of Sydney and have now begun to convert it into a home. I am the project manager and am there every day making decisions and supervising the tradesmen. This is both exciting and daunting and I keep thinking about starting a dedicated blog to track our progress and get everyone's input - but there simply isnt time yet. It is hard to focus on the detail of small vintage things when my day to day decisions are of a very different scale. So a mention here will have to do!




The factory has a history dating back to 1903 when Cobb and co carriage repairs, boat building and furniture manufacturing occurred. In 1967, Blythe Furniture owned it and produced very fashionable and apparently robust furniture. In 1980 it burnt down leaving a couple of walls and some lovely iron support structures from the 1920s.  The rebuild is in very 1980s red brick - which curiously I am quite attached to!





When we bought it - it held two kitchen and cabinet makers both near retirement. It was timely that we turned it into a home - it is the only factory in the street and is surrounded by lovely old federation (early 20th century) houses and mid century blocks of flats (apartments).



Demolition started in February and it has not been without some dramas already - but thats another blog post....I can now speak purlin, drop beam and noggin. Now where's the plan? I need to measure up for roof struts.....





5 comments:

  1. What an amazing (and ambitious) project! Keep us posted---I mean that....

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  2. What an awesome endeavor! I'm really going to look forward to seeing progress on this! My fiance is an architect and so I've inherited a complete love for old buildings and transformations of this kind.

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  3. Wow Eve, that is amazing undertaking. I look forward to seeing your progress in it's stages. Ha! Ha! to the building lingo purlin, drop beam and noggin.

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  4. i've just found your blog and look forward to updates on your awesome adventure! a sort of blank canvas that you get to make your own. i'm a bit jealous. :) best of luck!

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  5. I wish you success. I love before and afters of all kinds. I love improvement.

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