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NEWS: Kyoto Animation's 1st Studio Building to be Demolished




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AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 9:35 am Reply with quote
Nothing surprising about the demolition happening; that's a given after a fire (& firefighting efforts) of that scale.

But, I'm surprised to hear that it will take that long. And scaffolding of all things? It sounds like they are doing the demolition entirely manually instead of with heavy equipment. That's puzzling. I wonder if there are hazmat concerns with the building?

I'm curious to hear what plans might be for the site in the future. A memorial idea was mentioned months ago, but it doesn't seem that the is any concrete news on that front?

In any case, this seems like getting rid of the old building is a crucial step forward for KyoAni to move past this disaster and rebuild.
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SaitoHajime101



Joined: 31 Mar 2013
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 10:40 am Reply with quote
I can relate on the demolition part. My company lost one of our buildings due to fire (I was the only person in the building on a Sunday) and it took a year before it was completely tore down. Now the major difference would be between the fact I'm in the US versus KyoAni in Japan, however the amount of work to take our all the innards is immense. Keep in mind my building was a smaller, 2-story building.

In my company's case, we had to take out all the networking and server equipment, plus any other electrical/computer equipment that was either recoverable or can be scrapped for recycling purposes. Another major factor to consider is insurance. Unsure how insurance works in Japan or how quick it is to file the claim and receive compensation.

Granted, where my relation ends is with the nature of the fire. Still my heart grieves for those who were lost and those who are still living.

The cause of the fire for my company was some idiot flicked a cigarette into our mulch late Saturday that landed in a spot where we couldn't see it smolder overnight or in the morning.
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DerekL1963
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Joined: 14 Jan 2015
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Location: Puget Sound
PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 12:30 pm Reply with quote
AkumaChef wrote:
But, I'm surprised to hear that it will take that long. And scaffolding of all things? It sounds like they are doing the demolition entirely manually instead of with heavy equipment. That's puzzling. I wonder if there are hazmat concerns with the building?


The building is in the middle of a crowded urban area... Noise and dust issues (plus maybe hazmat) aside, the only road access is down a narrow road that's little more than an alley and has a really tight turn towards the end. (And a second tight turn adjacent to the building to reach what appears to be KyoAni's parking lot.)

Seems to me that manual demolition may be practically their only choice.
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BrainBlow



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 364
PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 4:06 pm Reply with quote
Probably for the best. Those of the surviving staff that go back to work shouldn't be working in what would basically be the same building. They should build a new and comfortable studio, hopefully in a better location as well.
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ly000001



Joined: 30 Apr 2010
Posts: 73
PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 5:16 pm Reply with quote
DerekL1963 wrote:
AkumaChef wrote:
But, I'm surprised to hear that it will take that long. And scaffolding of all things? It sounds like they are doing the demolition entirely manually instead of with heavy equipment. That's puzzling. I wonder if there are hazmat concerns with the building?


The building is in the middle of a crowded urban area... Noise and dust issues (plus maybe hazmat) aside, the only road access is down a narrow road that's little more than an alley and has a really tight turn towards the end. (And a second tight turn adjacent to the building to reach what appears to be KyoAni's parking lot.)

Seems to me that manual demolition may be practically their only choice.

If you watch Japanese home renovation shows, like "Before After", you see how little space there often is to work in in urban areas. Even the backhoes, Bobcat-style equipment, and cement trucks are tiny compared to the ones we see in North America and elsewhere.
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Hiroki not Takuya



Joined: 17 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 11:48 pm Reply with quote
BrainBlow wrote:
Probably for the best. Those of the surviving staff that go back to work shouldn't be working in what would basically be the same building. They should build a new and comfortable studio, hopefully in a better location as well.
Right on both accounts. The President said they would level the building and make it into a memorial park and build a new building possibly nearby. I hope the charitable funds they got aren't what's going toward that...
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AkumaChef



Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 9:54 am Reply with quote
ly000001 wrote:

If you watch Japanese home renovation shows, like "Before After", you see how little space there often is to work in in urban areas. Even the backhoes, Bobcat-style equipment, and cement trucks are tiny compared to the ones we see in North America and elsewhere.


I'm actually well aware of it. I work in the machining industry, and a few years ago one of my employees had a minor hand injury when moving some heavy metal blocks into a milling machine. Luckily his injury was minor, but it easily could have been a lot worse, so we started looking into heavy equipment that could be used to move parts which are too heavy to do so manually. We couldn't put a gantry crane into our shop because of building codes. The Japanese make a wide variety of truly tiny size construction machines which were originally intended for demolition purposes but have many other uses too. I originally looked at the Kubota KX008, which is an excavator (aka "trackhoe") which is so small that it can be driven through a residential doorway and operated inside a residential building. This machine has exactly one accessory: a hydraulic breaker (aka "jackhammer") for demolition. Our space requirements weren't that strict so we ended up buying a slightly larger machine , a Kubota U-17. Its tracks can narrow down to fit through a 36" wide doorway, and it can lift over 1000 lbs at the end of its boom. We don't do any earthwork, but we can easily drive the U-17 around in between our machines and move heavy workpieces and tools without putting anyone's hands at risk.

Japan has had technology like that for many years, while it is relatively new to the west. The existence of that tech is the exact reason why I expressed surprise they were still using manual demo. Of course if it's in a tight urban area they can't get full-size machinery in there, but this building looks very accessible to mini-ex's and skid-steer loaders.
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Ouran High School Dropout



Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 440
Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA
PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 4:20 pm Reply with quote
What I'm waiting for is to see the park that will be on that site in a few years' time. Just the image in my mind of that gutted building disturbs me. What does the the real thing do the survivors or even the neighbors?

Let the healing start.
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Alan45
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Joined: 25 Aug 2010
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Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 8:58 pm Reply with quote
@AkumaChef

Equipment like you mention will probably be used to break up and load the debris as it is brought down. However the building appears to be three stories tall and it is not clear how stable the interior is. I expect they will be using a combination of manpower and what ever machines they can lift to the upper levels.

This discussion reminds me of some episodes of Patlabor where the fights take out multiple buildings.
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nDroae



Joined: 26 May 2017
Posts: 382
PostPosted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 9:22 pm Reply with quote
Hiroki not Takuya wrote:
I hope the charitable funds they got aren't what's going toward that...

This was reported in August:
animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-08-22/sankei-japan-to-provide-tax-breaks-for-kyoto-animation-donations/.150298
Quote:
Kyoto Animation opened a bank account to accept donations on July 24, and that account has now received over 2 billion yen (about US$18.78 million). Retail chain Animate collected at least 249,030,484 yen (about US$2.3 million) in its donation campaign for Kyoto Animation that began on July 19. The company will give the funds to families of the deceased and injured victims of the fire, as well as use them for rebuilding.


But that was soon followed by this:
animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-09-10/7-victims-of-kyoto-animation-fire-still-in-hospital/.150871
Quote:
Kyoto Animation also revealed last week that it has handed control of the account it set up to receive donations to the custody of the Kyoto Prefectural Government, who will oversee the donation money's transfer to the victims of the fire and their families. Kyoto Animation added that it will not handle the money itself.
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