Behind the scenes

Related to the previous post referring to last summer's as labor camp we thought it might be fun to post a few quick and dirty behind the scenes photos (non-styled, non-edited) including some of the key characters (non-styled, non-edited) during the last few, perhaps the most intense weeks.

Pekka, Sofi and Urho witnessing arrival of Tosca slates for the front entrance

The best thing in a big project is that everyone, irrespective of what their skills are (or are not), can make themselves useful. It does not matter if you are a generalist or a more detail oriented person, a perfect task to flatter your strengths can easily be identified.

Pekka's father Kari was responsible for priming and painting the door frames

Pekka's mother Merja finished a huge number of different assignments ranging from child care to painting

If you really are a pro, your skills will not remain unutilized to their fullest potential. In these cases, the bar is set really high and tolerances at minimum. And you need to deliver. It is a family business, and no such thing as truly constructive criticism exists. Needless to say, not very many team members meet the criteria to be included in this high-class worker group.  

Pekka's sister Irmeli preparing a complicated diffuser

And then there are those tasks which are too dirty to assign to a non-resident. Tasks which still need to be done, and they will, because it is yours, and no one else (but an overly committed resident) would take responsibility. Fortunately in a high-performing team the value of this kind of work is also acknowledged and thus completed with class (at least without audible complaints).

Minna washing a big and dusty rock in the bunker

And what do the minors do in the meantime? Let's be honest - at the age of 4 and 1 they were still a bit young to be included in the actual work force. Thus, their key task was to adjust in the constantly changing conditions, by finding a quiet corner or a place to play and avoiding the most intense eye of the renovation storm. And since they are both born in the middle of it, they simply don't know any other way and fit in just perfectly.

Sofi watching her favourite kids' show comfortably in our bed

Eino relaxing at the backyard terrace after being kept out from harm's way in an inflatable pool

So, by trial and error, everyone making the best use of their skills, whatever they may be. Accepting detours as a part of creative and operative process.

Just pick up a hammer and do it!

Fennia Prize 2017 Grand Prix

So the other big news - Fennia Prize 2017 - Grand Prix!

Fennia Prize - the biggest design competition in Finland - is organized every second year and hosted by Design Forum Finland, the Fennia Group, Elo, and the Finnish Patent and Registration Office. This year the Fennia Prize Grand Prix was given to Merivaara Corporation for the Q-Flow™ Surgical Light, which is the latest addition to the company's portfolio of operating room systems and hospital furniture.

Pekka Kumpula, The Q-Flow & Jyrki Nieminen

Pekka's company Seos Design has collaborated with Merivaara since 2012. Together with the development team, Pekka has been advancing several projects including the definition of Merivaara's design DNA and the industrial & user interface design of several products.

Grand Prix winner

The Q-Flow™ Surgical Light - the winner of Fennia Prize 2017 Grand Prix is the tip of the iceberg, being the first of Merivaara products to be renewed during the next few years. The Q-Flow™ includes innovations to improve the level of hygiene in the operating rooms and increase personnel effectiveness.

The members of the award winning team were:

• Design: R&D Director Jyrki Nieminen / Merivaara, 
• Project Manager Paul Bärlund, Merivaara
• Creative Director Pekka Kumpula / Seos Design 
• Optical design: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd
• Aerodynamic design: Halton Group

Fennia Prize 2017 Exhibition in Helsinki

Design Forum Finland approached Pekka some time before the award ceremony and launch of the exhibition of products recognised asking if he could design the exhibition. They aimed for festive, elegant, memorable, dark - something highlighting the products. Based on the feedback, it seems that Pekka succeeded quite well.

From Left Naava, Planmed and Merivaara

So, award winning Finnish industrial design from 17 companies, both products and services. If you have an opportunity make sure to go and visit the exhibition in Helsinki City Center (Kluuvikatu 6), it will be open until February 12 before starting a tour around Finland.

Definitely worth it!

Secto lights

Visions - revisited

It was Friday night after a crazy week. The kids were finally asleep and I had just finished working on a blog post.

Time to call it a day.

But the scraping noise outside reminded me that Pekka was still, at 11 pm, finishing the terries seaming, and the sound made me think of an old blog post written back in 2014. 

This post was not about a concrete step in our never-ending renovation saga. Nor did it describe an interesting restoration project. And it was not teamwork, but written by Minna alone.

Instead, it was about respect for those who are truly visionary. For those who are passionate and determined to chase their vision without (too many) compromises. It was about the holy triage of Vision, Strategy and Implementation, and what I had learned during Project Olive Green.

After two years, I still stand behind my words. 

First, it is true what is said about realism: it is the worst enemy of creating an appealing vision. It is not easy to let one’s mind wonder unrestricted. With any project, one should imagine having pockets as deeps as a millionaire’s and a mind as powerful as Neo’s, who could modify the matrix at will. Anything less will result in settling with a suboptimal outcome. So, get obsessed with your dream first, and after you are too committed to give up, just find a way to make it happen.

Second, it is not a single strategy that can lead to a successful end result. Strategies should be adaptable. It is fine NOT to have all the answers when reluctantly crouched at the starting line. And NOT every single corner needs to be polished and fine-tuned before the kick off. A general outline is often more than sufficient. Thus, no need to be perfect. No need to have all the answers. They will come.

Finally, successful implementation is really about three basic things: confidence, patience and extremely hard work. Very few of us do have the pockets of a millionaire. Expectations in terms of time are nearly always unrealistic. And even fewer are ready to commit to the countless hours of work. So always, always add at least 25% to your budget and time needed, and you might get close to what is really required. 

But most of all, one should have no fear. Fear for aiming too high, fear for facing problems or fustration, or most of all, fear of failure. Fear, that sneaks in so well disguised that a mind lacks a fair chance fight back. Forget the fear. Crazy and unrealistic is the way to go. That is, if you want to make extraordinary things happen.

And perhaps, most importantly: know yourself. I am not one of those fearless, visionary people. Quite the contrary. But I am extremely lucky to share my life with someone who is. So each day, I'm learning something new about chasing a vision. Sometimes I get instantly inspired. Sometimes I think he's simply gone mad. But one way or another, it is always a step forward. A step closer to our shared vision.

And by the way, the terrace seaming is completed.

All photos by Nani Härkönen (http://naniannette.fi)

One slate at a time

We have had one mission this fall: to lay down all the terrace slates before the temperature drops below freezing point. The intention is not to fully finish the terrace but to allow the slates to settle and to be pressed as tight as possible to the ground over the winter. Seaming and application of a protective coat are on a to-do list for next spring. The aim is to be 100% ready for Sofi's birthday in June, as she has already started telling everyone this is where the party will take place.

Fortunately, the last few months have been quite dry and sunny. As the weeknights are a non-option due to darkness, work needs to be done over the weekends. So this is what we have been doing every single weekend during the past months. Actually, it is almost ironic that all those countless days are now condensed to the following five photos, but so be it. Let us at least make it fast on paper!

Terrace team

So one by one, Pekka has first chosen the slates and optimised the fit for each one. Sometimes he'd get away with minor modifications, but most of the times the slates needed something a bit more substantial. He also wanted to keep the seam as narrow as possible. Next, the slates were set on top of wet stone dust and hammered in place at the same time ensuring correct levelling. To make it easier to ensure the incline was correct, Pekka used smaller slates to mark the reference blocks he had installed before.

Reference blocks marked by slates

The farther he got the more difficult it become to find nicely fitting slates. Some of the stone pieces broke when hammered, and some of them were just too thin or funny shaped. It was also difficult to estimate if we had enough of them or not. Fortunately the company was helpful and interested in making big sand castles.

Assistant mixing stone dust

Even if it was a painfully slow puzzle, it was also very rewarding. The progress was evident - each slate took us one step closer to the goal, every day there was a bit more surface covered. And as the leaves started turning yellow, we were getting close.

Another Sunday afternoon

When all slates had finally found their place, a lot of water was ran on top of them in order to get the slates to settle as tightly as possible to the stone dust. Now we hand it over to winter - let's see the possible effect of ground frost and fix any damages before seaming the slates next spring.

Can you spot the missing pieces?

So the terrace is dirty, not seamed and missing a protective coating, but after all this effort we are unbelievably happy to see it will eventually look great. Sticking only with the facts, however, Sofi's first comment was not perhaps the most constructive one: "Dad, but it is not ready, there are a few pieces of slate missing!" Honesty of a three year old can sometimes be brutal.

About renovation and relationships

Some years back we came across an article about challenges of building a house. There was one paragraph that stuck with us (freely translated): "I'll build a house. You take care of the kids. See you in two years." Unfortunately we were no longer able to find it online, which is a pity - it was a great read.

It is also a well known fact that while building a house or extensively renovating one things may go sour quite easily. The entire process is a stretch for a relationship, and thus a true test. Will we really see in two years as agreed?

We have always been renovating. Thus when asked how do we deal with such a lifestyle it would be easy to say: "Oh, it is our mission. We just love it."  But the fact that we tackled our first shared project only a few months into our relationship and are still on that road does not make us superhuman. Quite the contrary, we do not love every minute of it. There are times when we absolutely hate renovation. And there are times when we grow frustrated with everything, even each other.

Helsingin Sanomat (a national Finnish newspaper) wrote about renovation and relationships just recently (1). The article was based on interviews with a couple who had finished a major project and a therapist, who compared renovation to a third wheel in a relationship. It all starts with a beautiful idea of a perfect home to be built/renovated together. Then, one commits to the project work whereas the other takes care of the kids. Slowly, the latter one starts feeling excluded and stranded. Most likely, unexpected challenges will arise, deadlines and budgets get exceeded. Everyone who has ever renovated can vouch for this message.

We have certainly received our share. Nasty surprises of a 1960's apartment, broken machinery, unfavourable weather conditions, stretched budgets, constant mess and eternal incompleteness, long working hours either with the project or children,  - the list is quite extensive. In addition, as mentioned before, we have very different personalities. Pekka enjoys to process, Minna would love to finish things as soon as possible. Keep adding careers, daycare and a dachshund not forgetting too few hours of sleep. At worst, it might get very interesting. Still, we hardly ever really fight.

Of course we have talked about it trying to recognise our key success factors. The HS article mentioned above lists a few very good points we fully agree with. Choose a partner with a similar taste. Recognize each others strengths and utilise those. Allow ideas to fly, bounce them back and forth with each other to reach the best outcome for both. Celebrate project landmarks.

Another crucial one for us is involvement. It is not sufficient just plan something together, we both need to participate in the actual work, be project owners. Even if Minna would be mostly watching the children, every now and then the roles get reversed and she will get to do the "dirty work".

Also, there need to be breaks for "normal life" and to allow inspiration. Sometimes it is difficult to get started even with the smallest project, there is no drive. In these cases, we drop the gloves, forget renovation for as long as it is needed. We dive. Play tennis. Visit relatives. Sometimes the wait is shorter, sometimes longer, but eventually the motivation and enthusiasm will return.

And finally, acknowledgement of each other. Visitors always kindly pay their compliments to how beautifully something has been designed and implemented, but the work of a support team remains more invisible. But it doesn't matter. The most important thing is that between the two of us, not a day go by we wouldn't thank each other or recognise the other person's achievements.

It is teamwork. And fortunately we seem to be pretty good at it.

Last but not least. These photos were taken by our favourite photographer, Nani Härkönen from Nanianette Photography during a day when she was photographing us in our home. Thank you Nani, you are a Star - a pleasure to work and hang out with and skilled beyond measure!

Reference:
1. Helsingin Sanomat 2.8.2015 (http://www.hs.fi/koti/a1438311010004)

Into the Earth #3

We crossed our fingers on Friday for a weekend without rain, as it has proven to be impossible for trucks to climb up the grassy hill when the ground is wet. Against all odds after all the bad luck, the Weather Lords favoured our cause!  So on early Monday morning, after a 250 kg plate compactor which did not move an inch in the mud had been changed to a 80 kg piece of machinery, Pekka started preparing the ground for landscaping fabric to be placed between sub soil and the first layer of compatable gravel.

Compacted ground ready for landscaping fabric

Then a cement truck loaded with gravel arrived. Instead of manually carrying all the gravel uphill, it would be delivered "by air" to the correct location. Why did we not think of this before but relied on raw manpower and wheelbarrows before?

Gravel truck arriving

So the next part was easy. Pekka could just watch 15 tons of gravel (0 - 32 mm in size) moving 20 meters up hill to our backyard, slowly covering the landscaping fabric.

Flying gravel

More flying gravel

Then the gravel was evenly spread around the 45 m2 terrace area with shovel and then compacted carefully with water and compactor to finish the first gravel layer.

First gravel layer ready

Next the entire area was covered with 50 mm Finnfoam thermal insulation to minimise the impact of ground frost. Gaps between the panels and walls were filled with expandable urethane foam.

Laying down insulation

The picture below shows the slight inclination of the terrace on the border of foam and wall. The exact inclination will be adjusted with the following layers to match the recommendations.

Ready for the second layer of gravel

The following morning, at 6.30 am (way before Pekka's morning coffee), the gravel truck returned and shot another 17 tons of gravel (0 - 16 mm in size) on top of the insulated terrace.

Second set of flying gravel

The piles look huge first, but both times the amount was just perfect (thanks for the providers calculator!). Fortunately Pekka got some help from Sofi, who was quite keen on assisting with her own shovel.

Shoveling team

After 2.5 days of intense teamwork, we were finally at the point we originally planned to have achieved more than a week ago.

Terrace foundation - ready!

Compacted gravel

Without Juha's laser Pekka had to rely on a traditional string line method to determine the right ground level. The top gravel layer is now compacted and levelled correctly with an inclination of approximately 2 cm per each meter away from the building. The border stones (which were actually recycled stones from Project Underground) have also been laid to determine the area and support the structure.

Determining the correct level

Despite this being perhaps the project with most adversities, everything is now finally ready for stone dust and slates. But those will need to wait a bit. We need a small vacation first. All inclusive with relatives.

Terrace to be

Guest room slate floor

Sweat. Sore muscles. Exhaustion. Backyard looking like a disaster. That is seems to be slate floor assembly in a nutshell. Yet, Pekka is enjoying himself. And making progress.

Slate master

Pekka was following the protocol he learned while assisting Harri from Liuskemestarit last summer. Clearly, he had been paying close attention to the process as after day one, more than half of the slates were successfully laid down and attached with cement.

Half way there

View from the door

There are few more pieces to be cut and installed before the floor is ready. Not to mention what is waiting for outside at the terrace. Speaking of the devil - we have exactly one day time to clean up the mess before digging begins. It is going to be one busy Sunday.

Made to measure

While Pekka was working on the backyard, baby Eino (who is no longer very little after doubling his birth weight in less than three months) was hanging out at the atrium terrace with his favorite toy. He wasn't too excited about Sofi's earmuffs Minna tried to make him wear to block the loud grinder sound. But the apple seems not to have fallen too far from the tree - being Pekka's son and probably strongly expressing the renovation gene, he did not seem to mind the grinder noise at all, but happily carried on his games.

Like father like son

About Visions

This post will be completely unaligned with our usual style. First, there will be no visuals. Second, it does not concern a concrete step in our never-ending renovation saga or describe an interesting restoration project. Third, it is not a collaborative effort as our posts usually are but written by Minna alone.

This post is about respect for those who are truly visionary. And perhaps even more importantly, respect for those who are passionate and determined to go for their vision and make it real.

Indeed. Vision – strategy – implementation. A trilogy recited to the point of exhaustion in strategic planning.  I don’t think there is anything interesting or exceptional I could add to this well-analyzed framework. But during the past two years, I have made some Project Olive Green Window related observations, a bit of food for thought. Guess one could also call them learnings.

First, it really seems to be true what is said about realism: it is the worst enemy of creating an appealing vision. It is not often easy to let one’s mind to fly unrestricted. One should also be able to imagine having pockets as deeps as a millionaire’s and a mind as powerful as Neo’s, who was able to modify the matrix at will. Anything less will result to a poor outcome and should be discarded as “suboptimal”.

Second, it is not a single strategy that can lead to a successful end result. Strategies should be flexible and adaptable. It is fine NOT to have all the answers at the starting line. And NOT every single corner needs to be polished and fine-tuned before the kick off. A general strategy outline is very often more than sufficient. Really, NO need to be perfect.

Finally, successful implementation resolves around three basic things: confidence, patience and extremely hard work, which will eventually enable almost anything. Very few of us do indeed have the pockets of a millionaire. Many have a tendency to expect too much in an unrealistic schedule. And even fewer are ready to commit to the countless hours of work – always, always add a zero to the end and you might get close to what is really required. But smart choices made at the right time combined with sweat and occasional tears forms the recipe that pay’s off in the end. And the driving force, the true source of energy, is of course the vision often regarded as unrealistic at start.

But most of all, one should have no fear. Fear for “Aiming too High”, fear for “Facing Problems or Frustration”, or fear of “Failure” are just a few examples of the innumerable silent killers, which efficiently suck the life out of any promising project. And usually they come in so well disguised that the poor mind lacks a proper chance for a fair defense. Instead, crazy and unrealistic is the way to go. That is, if you want to make extraordinary things happen.

And finally, perhaps the most important learning: I am really not one of those fearless, visionary people. Quite the contrary. But I am honored and lucky to share a life with one.

And needless to say, I am thankful for every single minute.

Returning underground #3

Mission accomplished.

We have reached our target. And now, after a few days of rest, we finally have enough energy to write about it.

Most of the heavy digging and wheelbarrowing was completed on Saturday. On Sunday we continued on our own and eventually managed to fill up the pallet. The rocks and organic matter were ready to be transferred away.

Full load 

Inside the bunker, the desired depth had been reached. The space was finally ready for the next step.

About 50 cm below the line

One of the greatest efforts on Sunday was the transfer of a huge block of concrete. By utilising perhaps the same approach than the ancient Egyptians used when moving stones needed to build the great pyramids, we managed to haul the monster onboard.

Nearly there

The pile of old casting wood is waiting to be chopped to be used to warm up sauna. The sight is far from pretty, so we try to take sauna baths as frequently as possible in order to get rid of it as soon as possible.

Firewood to be

In addition to the junk mentioned before, the bunker also generated five monstrous bags of waste which does not fall to any of the above mentioned categories. Lovely.

Various type of waste

The weekend was nice and warm, so there was some inevitable evidence generated by the preventative measures to avoid dehydration. 

"Lonkero" - the drink of choice

Lastly, before cleaning up the tools the walls and remaining rocks were vacuumed to get rid of the dust generated during the process. After about 12 hours of work also on Sunday the job was finally completed. 

Almost. 

Pekka preparing the walls for painting

One should not be too hasty. As always, we encountered a "but", and this time it was a major one. There are some gigantic pieces of rock laying detached on the main rock bed. Due to their size (the largest one measuring 150 x 120 x 60 cm) and somewhat unstable positioning, the formation is dangerous, and thus needs to be removed before we can continue any further. So the whole next week we will have a professional team drilling holes to this monster and its smaller counterparts in order to fill them up with our dear friend - expansive mortar.

Loose pieces

Very unstable formation

sdfsdfsdfsdfsd
Undoubtedly and unfortunately we did cause some distraction to both of our neighbours in form of noise and dust, but curiously enough we did not manage to scare off a fox living nearby. Very bravely, it sneaked to its stash to get some food for its family. Needless to mention both Sofi and Urho were quite excited observing the event from the living room window.

Sneaky fox