NEW PROJECTS: Cactus & Crockett's

Cactus

A contemporary flare to a southwest kitchen & bar

Seattle's local favorite southwest eatery Cactus, recently expanded down south to their newest location in Old Town Tacoma. Creoworks worked with Architects BCRA and Wilcox Construction on this one-of-a-kind environment.
​The space encompasses wood accent walls that were made with white oak end grain tiles, framed with custom bent steel trim and recessed LED lighting around the perimeter. Custom wood hanging soffits were made for over the bar and dining area using stained maple slats. To showcase the liquor bottles, Creoworks fabricated a tiered, internally lit bottle display. The covered patio is completed with a steel and Ipe slatted parameter railing and custom benches- perfect for year round dining. 

Crockett's Public House

Showcasing deep rooted local history

Crockett's is a local South Sound restaurant named after early Puyallup resident and pioneer, Hugh Crockett. The restaurant group takes pride in taking buildings with historic value and renewing them. Creoworks completed this unique environment in collaboration with Babienko Architects and Innovative Milwork Solutions.​The space consists of locally sourced Radiatta pine plywood throughout the ceiling, walls, and booth seating. Custom fit Big Leaf Western Maple butcher block bars and table tops are dotted throughout the space along with hot-rolled steel bar shelving and drink rails. Old growth reclaimed Douglas Fir timbers are used for the custom bathroom "stack wall" feature along with stained white oak wall paneling and CNC-routed Crockett's logo of the pig and barrel giving the final signature touch on this custom branded environment. 

Candy PopUps and Urban Landscapes

J. Sweets

Custom casework for highlighting vibrant sweets

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J. Sweets offers prestigious Japanese sweets from Japan with their local stores in Washington, California, Texas, & Nevada.

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In collaboration with J. Sweets, architect Jerry Chihara, and general contractor MJ Takasaki, the design concept is a continuation of their other retail U.S. locations which was carried over from the original retail locations in Japan. The space encompasses two free standing internally lit display cases along with a point-of-sale station, and two internally lit display islands with product storage. The main casework was made from laminated europly, featuring UV bonded starphire glass, with integrated LED lighting and storage.

Skykick

Playful, urban landscape for a cloud based tech company

Skykick is a Seattle-based tech company that helps IT solution providers build more successful cloud businesses. Design House and VINT worked closely with Creoworks and Skykick to develop custom conference tables and playful lounge pieces for their new office space in Lower Queen Anne, Seattle. 

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This cloud based tech company is bringing the urban setting indoors with reclaimed wood and earthy colors. As they expand their offices further- this vision will transform from urban landscape to a tree canopy and the sky. 

Check out more of our projects here! 

New Projects! Aerlume & Bounty Kitchen

2019 has been our greatest year so far! We're having a magnificent increase in hospitality projects this year and are enjoying creating these inspiring custom environments.

We recently collaborated architect Mike Skidmore of Skidmore Janette​ and ​Wilcox Construction​ on Aerlume, a restaurant steps from Seattle's famous Pike Place Market inspired by the Puget Sound with farm fresh ingredients. The design concept comes from the restaurants deeply-rooted connections with local Northwest farmers and providers along with the sweeping views of the Puget Sound skyline. Aerlume warmly invites you to gather around with your friends at the pronounced indoor fire table bar to enjoy crisp ingredients in a luminous environment with spacious views.

Aerlume. Completed in collaboration with Mike Skidmore & Wilcox Construction.

Another project recently completed by us is ​Bounty Kitchen​, a Seattle-based healthy neighborhood cafe with locations in Queen Anne and Denny Triangle. They collaborated with ​Graham Baba Architects​ and Wilcox Construction​ on this modern space.

The design inspiration came from the original Queen Anne location along with Bounty Kitchen's vision of bringing the outside in with greenery, antique mirrors and window frames. The space is filled with sustainably harvested tropical hardwood table tops, a solid American Cherry wood bar, powder coated planter boxes integrated into outdoor seating, and custom reclaimed Douglas Fir community tables. Whitewashed tongue and groove white oak paneling was used throughout the dining area while a more industrial look was employed in the bar with blackened steel shelving and metal chandeliers.

Bounty Kitchen. Completed in collaboration with Graham Baba Architects & Wilcox Construction.

Check out more of our latest projects here!

Hot Rolled vs. Cold Rolled Steel, and which is best for your project

One of the most common questions we get about materials is: Whats the difference between hot and cold rolled steel? The simple answer is how the material is processed and what the end product looks like. The more detailed answer requires taking a look into the steel manufacturing process.

Rolled Steel

Billets

Similar to using a rolling pin to roll out dough, steel billets (large blocks of metal) are passed through machines that use heavy cylinders to flatten the metal into sheets. There are many different kinds of rolling machines to achieve the various shapes steel mills produce.





So how do the terms hot and cold tie into the rolling process?

Hot Rolled Sheet Steel

Hot Rolled means that the billet has been worked through the rolling process at temperatures over 1700 degrees. At those temperatures the superheated metal is worked down the line of rollers into its final thickness and shape. Hot rolled steel has a mill scale which is the scaring/marking pattern that is left on the metal after processing. These marks form due to the temperature being so hot that it prevents the steels natural recrystallization process. Recrystallization is a process in which the grains of the steel that had ben damaged through the rolling process are replaced with a new set of grains. Recrystallization can only happen when the metal is cool, so any metal that is processed in temperatures above the recrystallization point are considered hot rolled.

Cold Rolled Sheet Steel

Cold Rolled is a process that allows the metal to form new grains to replace the ones that were lost or deformed by the hot rolling process. Mills take cooled hot rolled steel and work it to its final shape by either rolling or extruding it. When you cold work the steel you can reduce its strength, so the mill adds one final processing step, annealing. Annealing works by heating the metal just to the upper limit of the recrystallization point. The metal is then cooled very slowly to room temperature, this allows the metal to create a uniform microstructure and resets its grain. It also increases the strength of the metal.


So which is right for your project?


Cold rolled steel overall will be stronger than hot rolled, but will also be more expensive due to the extra milling process. Since cold rolled steel has a grain you can only work it with its grain. Working opposite of the grain will make it significantly weaker, and cutting it wrong can cause warpage and change the integrity of the metal. Because hot rolled steel does not have a grain there is no difference in strength regardless of how its worked, and no matter how its cut it will not experience any warping. Additionally hot rolled steel contains a visual variation allowing a random pattern to occur when matched up. There is also a small tactile variation. Conversely cold rolled steel has a very smooth almost oily feeling finish to it, as well as a consistent grain pattern that is often covered with a patina like blackening to control a more regular appearance.

Whether hot rolled or cold rolled steel is a great material and can be used to achieve many fantastic looks.

Here are some projects we have completed using hot and cold rolled steel: 

Hot Rolled Steel

Hot Rolled Steel

Cold Rolled Steel

Cold Rolled Steel

Would you like help utilizing steel in your project? Give us a call at 206.922.8007 or email us at info@creoworks.com.