In “Episode 3: A Warehouse Becomes a Production Workshop!”, we showed a new production space taking shape inside the warehouse. This post continues that workshop renovation. The area once had only a wide concrete floor. Now the floor and ceiling are in place, and the former warehouse is quickly becoming “a place where work happens”.
Workshop renovation | The floor and ceiling are taking shape
First, work moved forward on the floor and ceiling. Carpenters built a wooden subfloor over the concrete and added new framing overhead. Once everything is finished, much of this structure will disappear from view. At this stage, however, you can clearly see a new room being built.
▼ Wooden framing has been installed for the floor and ceiling. This is the structure inside the production workshop that will disappear from view when finished.
Next, floorboards went down over the wooden base. That single change altered the whole scene. What had looked like a construction site gradually began to feel like a room.
▼ Floorboards are being laid over the wooden base. Little by little, the surface is becoming a floor we can actually walk on.
From warehouse to a place of work
Meanwhile, boards now cover the ceiling and the shape of the whole interior is becoming clear. We are not hiding every old post, wall, or window. Instead, we are keeping what can remain and adding a new floor and ceiling around those original features.
▼ The floor and ceiling are in place. Old posts and windows remain visible as the new production workshop takes shape.
New timber has also been added around the entrance. Old wood and new wood sit side by side, a scene that is only visible during construction. Once the work is finished and the space is in daily use, the two will probably begin to feel naturally connected.
For related information on adapting older buildings to present-day uses, see the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism information on the use of existing buildings.
▼ New timber has been added around the entrance. We are connecting a new workplace to the old building.
The production workshop is coming into view
By September 23, the workshop renovation had reached this stage. Tools and building materials are still scattered around, but the space already feels very different from the warehouse we started with.
▼ The production workshop on September 23. With the floor and walls in place, we can now picture how the finished space will look.
The ceiling is also close to completion. Soon, looms and the tools and machines that support Hitotsuya’s making will move into this space.
▼ The ceiling has reached this stage. Construction is finally moving toward the finishing work.
A corner of the warehouse that once held almost nothing now has a floor, a ceiling, and finished walls.
It is not complete yet. However, we are no longer only imagining a workshop here. The production workshop itself is beginning to appear before us.
The next time we introduce this place, we may finally be able to show the view with looms, tools, and machines lined up inside. 😁