HAPPY 99

Happy 99 – gifts & souvenirs 

28 forsyth st. new york, ny 10002

The clients, Natalie & Dom, founders of the iconic Happy 99 brand consulted me about their needs and vision for their newly acquired space which was an existing bubble tea shop in Chinatown, NYC. Walkthroughs of the space first give us an idea of limitations first – and we see how to build form, structure, and purposeful design that makes the experience natural with the given parameters. 

Thereafter the initial kick-off, surveying of the space to import into CAD where I can start 1:1 drafting. Once all drafting viewports are completed with measurements and other important specifications and details – decks are sent over in proposals. Revisions, for this project we did about three (3) revisions mainly to get all the radii correct before signing off for each fixture. Alas, sign-off's got the ball rolling and production began immediately, beginning of Spring 2022. 

Prioritizing fixtures were considered, as the lower and upper console attached on the west-wall were the spine of the project and pieces. In addition, we needed everything to flow. The idea to start with a bench at the entryway was promptly the answer. It had to have a connection to the rest of the system as well, with a twist (literally). While the question was, "how will it be structural enough and function which is a little more function than the wall system but still connect?" I had to make sure the bench is able to be sturdy enough so it doesn't cause an issue when joined with the rest of the system? Stabilize from end-to-end so nothing buckles or fails. 

The bench, the substrate is kerfed baltic-birch 3/4" with vertical grain Douglas Fir structural studs, and I added a couple U-channels within as a connector joist into the wall-bench section of the system. With this solution the section was able to make the system appear to float – while supporting up to 700 lbs. 

The clothing rack was an idea to make a minimal rod rack – as long as it looks like it was coming from the wall itself. I used some 2-1/4" White Ash dowels and started shaping them into a rounded-half-cove type of form. Installed expansion shield anchors on the flat ends where these where then threaded onto the 3/8" rod inside the wall I've installed into masonry-rated expansion shield anchors at a 4" depth with a masonry-rated epoxy-resin anchoring adhesive. Painted them white chalk. Stainless-steel rod (316) polished by hand up to a 2000 grit (I believe if not 4000, I forget). 

The rest of the systems were made with mixture of CNC and then assembly and structuring of the cutouts were done completely by hand. The structuring was very well through out. The appearance of the lower and upper console are massive and thick are the first thoughts – however the engineering of the structure was designed to be light yet solid as can be. The ribbing of the structure where most of the curves are were constructed of 3/4" shop ply, however the solution to have a strong structure preventing the center of gravity or force deflect was adding in framed trusses. 2x3s that are setting the hip of the truss on the wall – with additional structure as it had an additional wall of the vertical frame (within the truss frame). With these trusses divided out strategically I had secure points to mount the engineered hinge to from the rear of the system. 

Final works were all taken care of on site, plastering the connection between the upper-console with the north-suspended fixture, painting, and sealing. 

There's more to this story, so if you have any questions please ask me specifics or concern.

Thank you for reading.