Approval happens against a physical object
You sign a 1:1 corner, not a render. The signature means something in a dispute.
If skippedApproval is a meeting where everyone nods at a picture, and later everyone remembers it differently.
Mock-up:
the joint, at 1:1,
before the batch
Not a material sample. A sample of the junction — the part of the job that cannot be specified in words and cannot be fixed after plating.
Run in 304 or 316L in our own factory in Foshan — cutting, forming, welding and finishing are all done in-house.
- Days
- D6–12
- Who
- Sample cell
- You receive
- 1:1 corner
- Approval
- In writing
01
What a mock-up is for
It is not a sample of the material. It is a sample of the junction — the part of the job that cannot be specified in words.
A finish sample in a card tells you what a colour is. A mock-up tells you what the job will look like when two panels meet at a corner, under the light the room will actually have.
We build one corner at full size, in the final material and the final finish, with the real joint and the real fixing. You approve it, or you change it, before the first production part is cut.
What gets proved
- The joint width, seen from the distance a person will stand
- The colour, under your lighting rather than ours
- The shadow line where metal meets plaster, stone or timber
- Whether the fixing is actually hidden, or only hidden in the drawing
Every client who asks to skip the mock-up has, so far, asked for it back on the second job.
02
What the mock-up answers
| Question | Answer you can only get from a mock-up | Cost of finding out on site |
|---|---|---|
| Does the joint read as a line or a gap? | Seen at 1.5 m under raking light | A full elevation re-made |
| Is the colour right in this room? | Physical sample under your lamps | Re-plating an entire batch |
| Does the shadow line stay constant? | Measured against a real plaster edge | Tapered gap nobody can fix without removing panels |
| Is the fixing truly hidden? | Look at the back and the side | Visible screws on the most photographed surface |
03
What goes wrong without a mock-up
The colour is checked in your light
We ask for the lamp specification or a photo of the space, and match against it.
If skippedThe batch is correct in Foshan daylight and wrong in a warm-lit lobby — and both are 'the same colour'.
The joint is built once before it is built twice
The mock-up is the rehearsal. Production parts follow a proved detail.
If skippedProduction follows an unproved detail, and the error is multiplied by the number of junctions.
04
The sample cell
Where mock-ups are built, photographed and kept.
01A full-size unit, assembled on the shop floor
02 · to be shotJoint at 1:5, filled and unfilled side by side
03A full-size unit, ribs out, gold trim going on
04Decorative panels, each set with a white inset
Ask us for the document
from any step.
Any step.
Every step below ends with a record. Ask for a specimen of it before you place an order — the answer tells you more than any brochure.