Concrete... Oooh my!

Still breathing heavy from my scorching-hot 3-part series featuring piles of dirt? Well hold on to you pants. We're getting to the good stuff: concrete slabs. What?! Not enough, you say? OK, maybe I can throw in a little framing, but that's gonna cost you extra. The original pine floors were removed in El Barrio's bar and kitchen areas in order to replace them with concrete. For a professional kitchen, concrete is much safer and easier to clean. The wood was salvaged to be used in other places. After pouring concrete, framing began for the bar and some interior rooms.

The same day the contractor poured El Barrio's floor they also poured concrete in the residential entrance. Some of the wood at the residential entrance was damaged. We've tried to reuse and repair any of the original pine that we could, but here we cut out the rotten boards at a diagonal to be replaced with this concrete. It's pretty dirty in the picture below, but it's intended to add a little drama to the space with contrasting textures. Aside from being the entrance to my loft, Jerry and Roxane will eventually use this area as an office for Self-Storage management and real estate.

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El Barrio's Conduit Installed

For the last post in my critically acclaimed series featuring dirt, El Barrio finished laying conduit under the kitchen and bar. Next week, we'll be moving away from dirt, and into the exciting world of concrete slabs! [gallery order="DESC"]

El Barrio's Plumbing Installed

Continuing my photographic study of dirt, last week Appleseed finished laying out the plumbing for El Barrio. The long strip in the first shot is the bar. The larger area below is the kitchen area. These pipes will feed the various sinks, dishwashers, etc needed to run a restaurant. Should finish up with electrical this week. [gallery order="DESC"]

El Barrio's Wildly Controversial Sign

I'm not very involved with El Barrio's design. I white-boxed the space, and most everything else is up to them. However, contractually I do have the right to approve or disapprove the signage. Not that I didn't trust the Trattoria guys' sense of style; I just wanted to make sure there weren't a bunch of bright lights aimed into my window. They showed me the sign design a couple of weeks ago, and I quickly nodded approval. The sign was so unobjectionable that I was surprised when I read on Jeremy Erdreich's excellent Bhamarchitect Blog (where you can see a picture of the design) that the Design Review Committee tabled the vote. The issue seemed to be that it projects over the street, despite the fact that The Metro Bar, only a half block down the street, recently hung a projecting sign. Not to mention that half a block in the other direction What's on 2nd?, Urban Standard, and Rogue Tavern all have projecting signs. Even though I wasn't really involved, I'm still feeling like the kid who got picked last for the kickball team.

El Barrio Begins Buildout

El Barrio began their buildout last week, and Brian has been gracious enough to let me post some progress pictures as long as I don't spoil any surprises of the decor's Wow Factor. What I'm saying is: get ready to look at some pictures of dirt. The original pine floors were removed in the bar and kitchen areas in order to replace them with safer and easier to clean concrete. The salvaged wood was kept to use for patching the dining area floor, where the wood will remain.

As in the parking deck construction, below the wooden floors was a coal by-product filler, which is the dark patches you can see in the pictures. The dark patch towards the back is the kitchen area, and the thin strip running up the side is the bar, where they will feature fresh margaritas.

In other news, last night I gave the garage door opener to my first parking customer. Welcome, Darryl! And thanks for being so patient.

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Restaurant at Counts Bros!

The worst kept secret in Birmingham (mainly because I have trouble keeping my mouth shut) is that Brian and Geoff from Trattoria Centrale have been eying the Counts Bros. building for a new restaurant. We finished up the lease last week, and they announced their plans this morning in the Birmingham News. I'm a big fan of Trattoria Centrale; I got a sneak peak at the plans for El Barrio, and I think its going to be even better!