St John Village new Members Reception Area and Park new sign

With the build-up to the 2011/12 Ski season the Town has been manic and lots of new things going on. theres a new Mayor and party in place and they are committed to bring in the changes, we will do a report on all thats new in a later post. We to as you can imagine have been manic, working to bring the Park and Hill up to scratch, undoing some of the historical issues left us and working to get everything the best it can be for everyone, apologies to all, for posts having been a little thin on the ground, but today we are bring you an update on the St John Village exciting new Members Reception Area and Park signage progress.

 

Existing Block D lobby area in the Park and where we started from, a nice space and the first aspect of the Village you come into contact with and thus perfect for a OA Members reception area.

New electrical distribution panel

42 inch plasma to be located here

The first area of works was to get the new electrical services in, and to monitor this the new distribution board is fitted with a slave meter.

the new distribution board and lighting control is located behind the intended new reception desk are and will be with in cupboard unit.

Lighting is a key issue and we have allowed for an element of drama mixed with practicality and necessary task lighting.



With the new lighting arrangement in the walls where made good and the whole area re-painted.

With great high cielings for the main fittings we have gone for some very special hang lamps with a fabric finish for that warm tactile feel, over the reception desk a line of architectural fittings then LV down lighters for the task lighting behind reception.

For the reception desk we wanted to bring in some organic elements and introduce some traditional aspect creating a contemporary warm mix for the space. Here we see the pieces which i selected (actually rescued) from our timber suppliers yard being brought back to life, they had been there for years and no body had seen the beauty of them, but when Crown waved their creative and skilled hands over them , just look what they can become.

Putting her in the place you start to see the area take shape and the two styles start to blend.

The reclaimed wood looks very special and when we add the next elements will visually pop. The over hang is designed to act as a bar plot for members to enjoy a cup of freshly ground coffee at.

The Park Signage.

As with the reception area the concept for the signage  was a blend of the traditional and the modern, in this the agreed wording and revised logo will be formed from 316 stainless steel, and these will be raise mounted on 3 hand selected forest totems, staggered in arrangement and mean to connect the complex with the Pirin Park area in front which the complex sits. We have designed in to the original logo a woodpecker image this is the red crested woodpecker indigenous to this region and found in the forest behind, in fact in early spring the unique sound of their activities, wood pecking can be clearly heard. Again we wanted to ground/connect the resort to the nature which surrounds it. 

The raw material.

Putting in place the huge tree trunk elements

At Crown its team work that counts, and we have a great team. With the logs in there predetermined position levelled and secured, we are ready for the pre-mixed cement to arrive.

On time and as requested the pre-mixed cement arrives.

The mix is well set into the retaining hole and a small part is also formed to take the up lighter for the sign.

With the cement properly cured over the weekend, the levelling retainers are removed so above ground treatment can be applied, the ground around made good the up-lamp fixed and tested, ready for the signage to be installed.

St John Hill Owners choose Crown FM

A MASSIVE THANK YOU from us all at Crown FM, to all the Hill Owners that voted for and supported Crown FM's successful bid for the Facilities Management of the complex, and also a HUGE THANK YOU to all our Park clients and friends that also supported us in this endeavour.

Finally with both the HILL & PARK under common facilities management with Crown and both operational the real opportunity to deliver on and realise the dream of the St JOHNS VILLAGE luxury 4 seasons resort, encompassing both the HILL and PARK can be realised, we all understand that there lies a long and potentially rocky road ahead, but given the unprecedented voice of support from the owners we truly believe that by working together, ongoing communication and dialogue and a focused commitment to the common agenda, we can finally start to realise that dream that every one originally brought in to.  

THANK YOU AGAIN and all of us at Crown FM look forward to and are excited about working with and for, ALL the owners at the HILL and PARK from here on in and on in to the future.

There's Snow in them, there Hills & Crown FM are ready

You may or may not have heard as yet, but yes we can confirm its true, snow in the mountains and lots off it 300mm confirmed by friends that even managed to ski up there, yes ski on Monday.

We also had a great snow storm on Sunday almost a blizzard, all of which bowed's well for the coming season, and the word on the street from all the baba's (local for grammars) is that a heavy winter is coming. Tuesday early morning when taking Chantal to school the out side temperature was -2deg, and we had to put our wooly hats on!

In readiness for this and the coming winter season Crown FM has already put in place its winter season PPM (planned preventative maintainace) regimes and process, including water riser pressure management, and pipework freezing prevention processes that involves am/pm riser circulation regimes. We have placed our orders for grit and salt and agreed a general winter street cleaning schedule with the local road management company.

Apartments/Owners that subscribe to our IPM (apartment management) services are now part of our increased inspections cycle where we now inspect on a friday pm and again on the following monday am, this is in addition to the extreme weather event inspections. IPM clients water boilers and associated pipework are drained, only being brought into commission one day prior to an owners or clients visit and then again drained, post visit if there is no repeat visit / occupation with in the following 7 calendar days.

We are currently working with an ex-bulkenstroy electrical engineering operative that was responsible for the electrical installation in the complex and are working with him to set the trace heating system to work in order we protect the roofs better during this season.  

Eagles over St Johns Village

The Nature here in Bansko is I feel,  we will all agree the one thing no one can complain about, and the one thing that constantly never ceases to feel my days with wonder, greeting me every morning when i wake and closing every day with the beauty of its night sky, and as a stunning testament to this wonder we saw these days 2 pairs of nesting Eastern Imperial Eagles, flying majestically in the sky's over the St Johns Park Village.

Having made there nests in the low land forest area just up from block A of the Hill, these stunning birds are just a joy to watch and proof positive that the nature here is second to non. At the last estimates where are around 150 breading pairs here in the Bulgarian mountain regions, and the most frequented area being the Pirin national park, i my self know of one other breading pair in the area circa 1000m up from the gondola station, but to have 2 pairs in the same area is really wonderful.

How about that, just beautiful. Taken on my Canon 1000D

So much more to Bansko than people give it credit for.

Exactly working to natures calendar these birds arrive here on there migration cycle, and breed from the beginning October until end November. To learn a little more a bout this fabulous bird please follow this link:  http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=3535

Life in Bansko

When i started this blog, along with keeping all the owners and our clients up to date with what is going on, on site i wanted to give a little flavour of our life and life in Bansko generally, in the hope it will make it a little more familiar for everyone and you get an insight to the culture here and how ordinary people live in a Bulgaria mountain resort. Previously you saw the blessing we had at the complex, to day i would like you to see our little angel Chantal first day back to school after summer and starting her 4th year classes.

Like everything in Bansko/Bulgaria, school and schooling is driven by tradition and family and the start of the new school term is an event that the kids and school spend time during the summer to prepare for. this year Chantal was asked to present the pitka bread for the 4th year classes, for this she don's traditional dress and after a mini theatre performance put on by the children, she and two other girls (one for each year group) lead the kids in to the school.the bread is representative of health, happiness and family, for all that use and work at the school. The little show performed by the kids is about nature and the animals of the woods.

Your see and feel from the brief video that, schooling remains here not only about education but the children having fun, values and traditional interaction with each other, and different from the UK and most of europe these days they are allowed to remain kids a lot longer, not a bad thing in my book.

Watch and enjoy.

Up on the Roof

Hi everyone its been a little while, but its been a busy few weeks and lots going on in the back ground, mostly looking to the future and sorting out all the detail involved in operating the site and setting our PPM and RM procedures. Hopefully everyone has seen our LCR document we produced really whilst it might come across a little scary really it is all manageable, and as long as we all work together, everything can be managed. Whilst we where putting the LCR together we obviously had to gain good visual access to the roof areas of the complex and whilst we where doing this we managed to get some unusual and interestingly different views of the complex and it architecture profile.

You cannot help but love the architectural proportions and balance of the building, i know i keep saying it but she really is the best in Bansko visually and also in terms of internal layouts and apartment scope, really the core and most important elements of the construction are all in order. You can also see we have been busy behind the building with getting the grounds in order and you would not believe how thick and dense the under growth was.

Not the same development i hear you say, amazing what a little bit of love and attention can achieve, with the vast majority of the grounds now through the first phase of tending we are now, focusing on removing the unwanted heavy weeds and starting to nurture the grounds by selective burning and watering prior to seeding and tending we have also order some select and appropriate planting and young trees for planting before the end of September.

  
Architecturally i like the roof junctions of the complex and the rhythm they sets, even the chimneys have been coordinated which is very unusually in Bulgaria let alone Bansko.

Looking better and better all the time and really she is worthy of your dreams.

And this is how we got up there, a ride in a manuto man bucket, not glamorous but very effective 

We have also been working fervently with the OA to-gather more owners to the fold that dont already know about the great work the OA have been doing up at St Johns, with the soul aim to get more members to buy into the future, that can now be shaped by us all. As well as ownership searches, we have put on each entrance a promotional leaflet, urging any owners we have not already traced to get in touch and to get involved.

  

SJP welcomes its First Owner & Guest

On the 12th August 2011 after 3 long years of waiting finally St Johns Park and Crown FM welcome's the first owner and Guest, Rachel and Phil to use, YES USE the complex and Rachel's apartment, Crown Interiors delivered on Rachel's dream apartment. Having worked hand in hand with Rachel, and off a great specification she had meticulously prepared, Crown Interiors derived the perfect design and proposal which together we fine turned to be the project and apartment it is now, and now finally Rachel, her family and friends can enjoy.

Looking good feeling good, and the Sun shone all weekend. Doesn't get much better than that, Summer in Bansko has so much to offer and with St Johns Park wonderfully located on the edge of the Pirin National park, on the Tuesday we had to kick them out as they did not want to go home :) Crown Transfers safely delivered back to the airport and there both be back soon in October.

Rachel's is a one bed apartment located at the junction of blocks D and F and thus had a compact size and challenging layout, the bed room in particular with its almost triangular shape. Everything from Crown Interiors is hand made and customed to suit every clients need and taste, but with out the custom made price tag. with our factory in Bansko and team of local artisans Crown is best placed to deliver on your dream and budget. Here you see the kitchen dinning area with the kitchen made from solid Oak (Bulgarian Oak) it was designed in a shaker style and made functional around the apartment entrance. so as to maximis space potential and present the kitchen as an item of furniture. your also see a solid lime stone floor, and drop ceiling with down lighting over the kitchen zone.

Bulgarian Oak is for me one of the most beautiful Oaks its not easy to work with, as is much harder than other sources of oak but the grain and composition of the wood is just fabulous. LED lighting is built in to the wall units and elegant victorian tube way style tiles are used for the splash back a real touch of class.

Crown Interiors makes all its own sofas (you see a design you like and we will make it for you, or we will design a one off for you, just ask) and this is one of my favourites a real contemporary design perfect for the space, and magically hides a horizontal side and rise sofa bed. the sofa was also over sized as Rachel's boy is a tall one, its so big that we had to bring it in through the balcony doors.

Again a custom unit, made from solid oak, we wall hung it so as to visually to take away from the space, see also the wall papered walls, this really adds additional texture and softens the visual feel of the wood. the glass DVD, and DVD integrated shelving agains reduces the visual impact the piece has on the space.

And so to the bedroom a really difficult shape this, you see a wall mounted oak head board, here we set the wood elements and arranged the sections so the wood its self becomes like a feature as its so beautiful its like a work of art. Integrated stainless steel lamps glass side tables and an over sized mirror with leather frame all combine to give as sense of drama to the space yet an over all feeling of serenity.

To off set the original triangular shape of the room, and visually rationalise the space we set the wardrobe at 90deg to the back wall and at an angle across the room, then custom made the carcass section of the wardrobe in to the triangular space now left behind, clever space management has now meant that a 3 meter wardrobe has been formed our of an original 1.8 meter space. The combination of the hi-gloss acrylic panels and oak frame sliding doors, gives a feeling of space with the reflective surface and texture from the wood, i feel your agree they look great.

Rachel now has her little piece of home from home luxury here in beautiful Bansko, to enjoy for years to come and for us at Crown FM to look after and protect.

SJP drive By

With the first cut complete out front of the Park Blocks D through to A, it really is looking unbelievably good, in fact its quite incredible the difference, particularly out front of blocks B and C, its almost as if the buildings them selfs have taken a deep breath and puffed their chests out.

The video shows another beautiful day in Bansko, where we are currently experiencing an unusually warm air front sweeping in from the African continent, with temperatures in the region of 40 degrees WOW. Set against a perfectly clear, deep blue sky's our video shows a drive by blocks D to A and you can almost smell the fresh cut grass.

The Blessing of St Johns Park Bansko.

Called the water blessing this traditional Bulgarian blessing is performed by the Priest of Bansko's main church "The Three Saints" and is performed at the start of any new venture/business or the purchase of a new home and we have arrange in this instance for it to be dedicated to ridding the complex of all the negative energy and bad things that has gone before and to open up all roads in future for the owners and those from Crown FM that will work at the complex, bringing all things good, health, wealth, success, love and good luck.

From the 1st until 15th August which is Mum Mary's day on the Christen Orthodox calendar, during this period traditionally believers abstain from eating meat and thus the offerings on the table, seen in the video are fruit, bread, honey and chocolate washed down with a good wine, and soft drinks. During the ceremony participants names are spoken and water placed on them by the priest, once the ceremony is complete the priest hands the blessed water to Yana who then goes to each of the blocks at the Park in turn to spread the holy waters across the whole complex.

St Johns Park is now ready to face a much brighter future.

What a difference a day makes

With Crown FM hitting the ground running, already things are starting to look better. As we all know first impressions count, so to make a big show and let everyone know St Johns Park is alive and kicking we started clearing the grounds at block D.

Here is a snap shot of what things looked like monday morning.

So now to work and the first phase of the big tidy up, cutting down 4 years of wild growth, long trousers needed as some pretty big snakes in and amongst them weeds and long grass, and at the end of day two, out front block D starts to take shape.

A good start always sets the standard for the future and with the weather on our side also phase 1 out side Block D begins to take shape and the big white elephant starts to regain her colour.

Even with the Jazz festival imminent our friends at the municipality helped out to make the place clean and nice ready for the visit and blessing of the complex tomorrow by Bansko's Priest a wonderful tradition aimed at blessing all those about to work at the complex from Crown FM and all the owners and there property, ridding the development of all the bad energy of the past and forging a bright new future.

In typical Bulgarian fashion an illegal and dam-write dangerous electrical supply (415v) had been taking supply from the basement of block B, Crown FM advised the offending party of imminent removal and in coordination with CEZ (the electrical utility company) to promptly remove and make safe the lands of the Park.

Looking forward to tomorrow and the church mans blessing will post the video and pictures of the event in the evening.