Fruition (1997)

This was my first solo project; I was 26 years old and had a day job at Canada’s premier architectural office Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg (KPMB) where I was an intern architect. The client was a friend of mine who worked at a restaurant I frequented often and was about to embark on a Juice Bar venture at a location just down the street. The site was (formerly) a Provincial Ministry of Transportation office (the Canadian equivalent of a DMV) and approximately 820 square feet at grade plus a basement with a single washroom.

The total budget (not including furniture & equipment) was $20 000 (inflation adjusted to 2016 = $28 210) and there was everything to do; including adding an additional washroom in the basement, a new façade, floors, ceiling, lighting & a bar.

It was immediately apparent that the only way that budget could work was to forego any architectural fee (only possible when one is moonlighting and has the income of a day job) AND leverage my contacts in the construction industry to provide work at heavily discounted rates. In other words, I had to call in some favors. It also became apparent that the only way I could realistically do this project was to put one absolute, non negotiable term on my involvement which was that the client(s) could not have a say in the design. As I explained to them, “I design it and you don’t get a say in what it looks like. I’ll make sure it works for you and for your business, but as for what it looks like – that’s all my call, on everything – or I’m out”. And the client agreed.

To actually get this done on time and on budget, the clients worked as their own General Contractors providing all the sweat equity. I provided all the trades for them and they did all the work conventionally done by laborers. I procured all the necessary permits and approvals, pricing from trades, products for installation and in the end, I ended up contributing out of my pocket for paint costs AND painted walls myself to get things to where I was satisfied.

Even at that young age, I realized that if my name was going on this thing it had to be at a level I was proud of and this notion that there was a tight budget would have no real relevance. Architecture is judged by the physical evidence architects leave behind, not by what isn’t there. And we couldn’t mount a plaque to the wall explaining that this was a project with an extremely tight budget, it simply had to be good.

And …

It all worked out. Everyone loved the place. A local magazine did a food review of Fruition (a rare thing for a little juice bar) and they did mention that they liked the “very Wallpaper-type” space. (A big compliment in 1997). Aside from some growing pains in the beginning, they had a successful run before selling the business.

Epilogue

One, once the business was sold; as a result of the experience, the client went back to school to become an interior designer.