There must be someone out there who has specified theme fascades for Las Vegas hotels or a Disney style theme park. You know. Where the fake is real and real is fake.
I am working on an enclosed shopping center mall in Dubai. The theme has the look and feel of a centuries old Italian village. Lots of distressed finishes such as stone, brick, plaster, used singly and in combination. Ornamental steel. Window shutters. Stone and brick arches. The list goes on.
I am at a loss as to how to specify design intent and the complexity and extent for the retail space fascades. What to mock-up? On-site or off-site? Provide images of existing Italian villages with the desiredlook and feel? Prequalify the specialty artisans? Other quality control measures?
Actually, the design team toured a specific location in Italy and took many photos representing design intent. My first thought was give the tradesman the photos.
However, I still have to write requirements for mockups for our associate architect in Dubai.
Wayne: In las vegas I don’t typically require mockups. There are a few theming contractors that do most of the work. I require several large samples, showing ranges of finishes and detailed shop drawings. Also, require a minimum number of years experience and finished and installed work that is similar. These are “artistic” features and you want to allow the theming contractor some latitude for submitting the best way to achieve the aesthetic intent (I have language to this effect in the spec). I have seen the architect include photographs to indicate design intent on their drawings. But Ken is right - you need to define what part of the design you want mocked up and let them figure out how to make it. That’s what I did for my 16 foot high pink flamingos (the Flamingo Hotel) and my giant 5 foot high purple zebra head (Purple Zebra Slush Bar) and I saw them this weekend and they turned out fine!!