Re arranged hallway

Updated floor plan

Building structure effects the design

Got the confirmation from building engineer about installing septic tank under the ground. Could not take the stairs out but could knock the wall between two shops. Aromatherapy massage area will be downstair instead of mezzanine floor.

See the adjusted design and layout again on this coming Sunday. Hope it will be the better decoration.

Waiting on the building engineer

After our first look as the proposed design and layout of the spa, we felt there was still several changes needed to be made. Some of the main things we need to find out is if one of the stairs can be removed, if a doorway can be put in the wall, and if the upstairs will support a hot tub. I guess this is up to the engineer of the building which we are still waiting for.

As for the design, it needs some work and a second revision which we are now waiting on.

Photos of the retail space.

Domain name registered

Monsanae.com - (pronounced Mon sa nae)
Monsanae Thai Spa & massage

USD / Baht rate expectation

Interesting note on forex related issues of the business. Currently 1 USD = 33 Baht. If the Dollar continues it's downward slide, to 30 Baht to the Dollar, that would be a 10% return if the investment in the Spa was put back in to dollars. 27.5 Baht to the Dollar would be a 20% gain. On the flip side, seeing the Baht at 37, would mean a 10% loss, and 41.5 Baht to the dollar would be a 20% loss if re-buying Dollars. Side dollar slide!
.

Signed the lease today.

We today we signed the 3 year lease on 130 sqm (1,400 sq foot) commercial space. As my this is the first time signing I did a quick search to see if I could get any tips on signing the lease. I found these two sources of a few quick tips. "What to know before signing a commercial lease" and "Ten things you need to know.."

I think the terms sound fair. The rent is just under 42,000 baht per month. We pay phone, electric, water and the condo fee is built in. We though is was going to be a lease where the price rises 10% a year, but luckily that is not the case. The lease starts Nov 1, 2007.? and ends 3 years later.

Now the next step is for the designers to get into the room and do the measurements. After that they plan to show us the overall design.

I must say I'm a bit worried here. I know from my design experience that most design starts with thumbnail sketches to figure out the overall traffic plans. Lets go to Wikipedia to see what they have to say about the design process:

Typical steps

A design process may include a series of steps followed by designers. Depending on the product or service, some of these stages may be irrelevant, ignored in real-world situations in order to save time, reduce cost, or because they may be redundant in the situation.

Typical stages of the design process include:

• Pre-production design
  • Design brief - a statement of design goals
  • Analysis - analysis of current design goals
  • Research - investigating similar design solutions in the field or related topics
  • Specification - specifying requirements of a design solution
  • Problem solving - conceptualizing and documenting design solutions
  • Presentation - presenting design solutions
• Design during production
  • Development - continuation and improvement of a designed solution
  • Testing - in-situ testing a designed solution
• Post-production design feedback for future designs
  • Implementation - introducing the designed solution into the environment
  • Evaluation and conclusion - summary of process and results, including constructive criticism and suggestions for future improvements
• Redesign - any or all stages in the design process repeated (with corrections made) at any time before, during, or after production.

A few other places list their ideas of steps in design. here, here, and here.