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      Neri&Hu inserts shed into old lane house for Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Shanghai

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      Chinese studio Neri&Hu has inserted a stainless-steel shed into a Shanghainese lane house for Blue Bottle Coffee’s latest cafe in Shanghai, which opened to the public last week.

      Located in Zhangyuan in one of the area’s 140-year-old traditional Shikumen mansions, Neri&Hu’s design for the coffee shop aims to evoke “an intimate and nostalgic experience and bring back the memories of ‘home’.”
      The Blue Bottle coffee shop is located in an old Shanghainese lane houseShikumen, also known as lane houses, is a traditional type of Shanghainese house that was popularised during the 19th century. They usually feature high brick walls that enclose a small front yard, with residential units arranged close to one another in narrow alleys.
      For this project, Shanghai-based Neri&Hu kept the existing brick walls, wooden doors and windows of the original architectural facades but replaced the interior wooden structure with concrete.
      A shed made of stainless steel at the centre of the cafe is used as a coffee barThe formerly separate units in the building were removed to form a large open space for the cafe. A stainless-steel shed was erected at the centre of the space to serve as the main coffee bar area.

      The structure of the shed was built with brushed, perforated and bent stainless steel to maximise the transparency of the space and contrast the heavy palette of the existing architecture.

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      The areas around the bar hold seating arrangements including long benches, low stone tables, wooden stools, and vintage walnut furniture, which were chosen to reflect the traditional lifestyle in Shikumen.
      Neri&Hu also nodded to the informal constructions that people living in Shikumen houses used to extend their private spaces into the alleys, by adding metal rods and small platforms to existing structural columns.
      The steel span of the coffee shop shed and its integrated lighting design came from the clothes-hanging-rods and street lamps commonly seen in the old Shikumen homes.
      The seating area features a range of vintage furnitureBlue Bottle Coffee was founded as a small roastery in Oakland, California, in 2002 and has since grown into a chain of cafes across United States and Asia.
      This is the third Blue Bottle Coffee shop in mainland China. The first one was opened in February this year, designed by Schemata Architects, followed by the second one designed by Keiji Ashizawa Design in August, all located in Shanghai.
      Neri&Hu also recently turned an old textile factory in Beijing into the headquarters of a Chinese pastry brand.
      The photography is by Zhu Runzi.
      Project credits:
      Partners-in-charge: Lyndon Neri, Rossana HuAssociate-in-charge: Qiucheng LiDesign team: Jiaxin Zhang, Xi Chen, Peizheng Zou, Shangyun Zhou, Greg Wu, Luna HongFF&E design and procurement: Design RepublicGeneral contractor: Blue Peak Image Producing Co.,Ltd
      Dezeen is on WeChat!
      Click here to read the Chinese version of this article on Dezeen’s official WeChat account, where we publish daily architecture and design news and projects in Simplified Chinese.

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      One Plus Partnership adds sculptural stage spotlights to Shenzhen cinema

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      Chinese studio One Plus Partnership used reflective bronze panels and a variety of spotlights to create a light-and-shadow effect at the Wan Fat Jinyi cinema in Shenzhen, China.

      The studio chose “stage lighting” as the theme of the interiors to match the concept of the cinema, which caters to both film screenings and live performances. The project has been shortlisted in the leisure and wellness interiors category of Dezeen Awards 2022.
      Spotlights form the key design element applied throughout the cinema”This project’s core design concept for the cinema was the ‘stage’,” the studio said. “Since the old days, the stage has served as a space for actors or performers and a focal point – the screen in cinemas – for the audience.”
      On the lobby ceiling, two lines of spotlights are assembled with the lights pointing outwards at each side to form a series of rectangular blocks. They hang randomly at different angles to make it look as if they are floating above people.
      The spotlights have a sculptural designAlso in the lobby, One Plus Partnership covered the interiors using bronze as the main material to create more reflective surfaces. The reflective quality of the bronze helps to create a light-and-shadow effect when it is hit by the spotlights.

      Yellow and orange were chosen as the main colour palette of the interiors since the colours are closely associated with light.
      Lighting dots on the hallway walls serve as signageIn the hallway, the spotlights are used as single units and have been added to the floors and walls at different angles. By arranging these lighting dots into groups, the studio created decorative patterns on the all-black walls, highlighting the lighting effect.
      Some of the spotlights are formed into signage that help visitors to identify locations and directions.

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      The studio used the same colour palette for the auditorium. The geometric patterns on the walls and seating were designed to resemble traces of light shot from spotlights.
      “By using just different combinations of colours, we have managed to give variety to the design with the lowest possible costs,” explained One Plus Partnership.
      The geometric patterns in the auditorium resemble traces of light shot from spotlightsOther Chinese projects in the running to win a the Dezeen Awards 2022 include a second-hand bookshop that uses supermarket-style crates to display its wares and a timber and travertine reading room, both located in Shanghai.
      The photography is by Jonathan Leijonhufvud.

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      Reflecting pool centres XC273 fashion boutique in former Shanghai towel factory

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      Chinese studio Dongqi Design has turned a disused factory in Shanghai into a multi-brand fashion and lifestyle store, adding glossy marble and metal surfaces to offset its exposed concrete shell.

      Set across three floors, the XC273 retail space houses designer showrooms and pop-ups alongside a small cafe, as well as providing spaces for temporary exhibitions and events.
      Dongqi Design has turned a former factory into a fashion boutiqueFormerly a state-owned towel factory, the building had already been changed several times before the latest round of renovations.
      Dongqi Design strived to preserve and emphasise these different layers of history, which are contrasted against shiny new finishes to create a kind of “nostalgic futurism”.
      “All the differences of the space were kept as part of the building’s history so that people walking in could feel that the boundaries between the past and the present are blurred, as if they had walked into a timeless space,” the studio explained.

      The XC273 store houses a cafe alongside designer showrooms and pop-upsThe building is organised around three voids, which now form the basis of the store’s circulation routes.
      The largest of these voids consists of a double-height space at the core of the building, where Dongqi Design added a small reflecting pool surrounded by a collonade.
      Glossy surfaces are contrasted against the building’s raw concrete shellThe collonade’s raw concrete columns are left exposed where they face the pond, while their other three sides are wrapped with either marble, wood or metal.
      This approach is replicated across the store’s display fixtures to create a sense of spatial continuity. It can also be seen on the first floor, where new paving was added to enhance the existing geometric flooring.

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      A sound tunnel that provides visitors with an experimental music experience was placed near the cafe on the ground floor.
      The second floor is accessed via a metal staircase, which is suspended above the reflecting pool and winds its way up through a small hole in the ceiling.
      A reflecting pool was installed at the core of the building”The key element connecting all the spaces is the stairs,” the studio explained.
      “The stairs are designed in their purest metallic form, further enhanced by the details of the balustrade where the fence becomes a simple element sliding into the structural beam at the bottom while having a profile on the top to allow visitors to grab the handrail comfortably.”
      Concrete paving was added to complement the geometric flooring on the first floorOn the second floor, Dongqi Design selected a bright white finish to emphasise the old wooden structure of the building’s pitched roof. A series of square windows let light into the space and offer views out across the city and toward the sky.
      To balance out the otherwise all-white interior, the VIP room is finished in a darker palette. During spring and summer, these darker shades also contrast with the colour of the trees outside.
      Dongqi Design gave the second floor a bright white finishXC273 has been shortlisted in the large retail interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      Other projects in the running include a second-hand bookshop in Shanghai that uses supermarket-style crates to display its wares and a reusable sales showroom with fabric walls.
      The photography is by Raitt Liu.

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      Cun Panda designs escape room with tree at its centre for Chinese game company

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      Chinese studio Cun Panda has created a flexible space for immersive game company Qian Hu Zhi Wu in Xiamen, China, that features a silver-foil-clad tree, acrylic seats and mirror installations.

      The local game company runs 14 escape rooms in China. Cun Panda’s design for its latest space measures 330 square metres and was designed with a focus on flexibility to enable a number of gaming narrations to take place.
      “We aim to create a space that can tell stories,” the studio said. “The design injects extraordinary imagination and creativity into the space that integrates art and immersive experience.”
      A series of rock-like formations surround the central tree installationAt the entrance of the space, a giant tree made of resin and covered in silver foil stretches through the ceiling to form the centre piece of the space. Added light installations were designed to look like satellites and planets circling the tree, giving the piece a futuristic feel.
      The tree is surrounded by a series of rock-like formations, which were informed by Stonehenge.

      “Stonehenge is taken as the prototype to open the interlaced space leading to the new world and build a dimension door of virtual and real,” explained the studio.
      Light installations have been added to the silver treeThe rock-like sculptures in the space have round holes to create clear sightlines inside the escape room, where the lit-up floor is the main light source and creates a variation of shadows.
      Next to the entrance space, a narrow corridor connects the game room with a storage room, dressing room, and makeup areas. Stripes of lights and a mirrors installation on the wall and ceiling were designed to create an infinite sense of space.
      Green moss and black sand add a sense of nature inside a white roomIn another room, sand-dune shaped seats are supported by transparent acrylic to create a floating effect, revealing green moss and black sand in the otherwise completely white space.
      Here, another tree breaks through the wall into the space and connects to the main tree installation. The white wall is lit up by LED lights and printed with shapes of sand dunes.
      Stripes of lights and mirrors create a visual illusionCun Panda was founded by Xuanna Cai and Jiacheng Lin in 2019 and has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming and Xiamen.
      Other recent interiors from China include timber and travertine reading room by Atelier Tao+C and Fatface Coffee shop by Baicai, both shortlisted in this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      The photography is by Xinghao Liu.

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      Muhhe Studio inserts “wooden box” into old factory to create light-filled photographer's studio

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      A white-painted steel and timber volume that contains an office, dressing room, reception and studio space sits at the centre of this photographer’s studio in an old factory building.

      Located in a former factory building that looks out onto a busy T-junction near a park in Nanjing, China, HNS Studio was designed by architects Muhhe Studio for local photographer Huai Nianshu.
      The studio began by removing all partitions and ceilings in the space to reveal a pitched timber roof structure.
      HNS Studio is a photography studio that was renovated by Muhhe Studio”In the early summer before the reconstruction, we went to the site, after the old partition was removed, the high-rise space of the old plant was warm and transparent in the sunlight of the afternoon,” recalled Muhhe Studio.
      “The photographer himself is extremely sensitive to light. His only expectation for the new space of the studio is a ‘transparent’ space.”

      In order to capture the light, the studio used BIM software to simulate the movement of daylight across the space throughout the course of the day. In response to this study, the studio created several different-sized openings along the building’s west gable end and roof to ensure that the space would be evenly lit at all times.
      It sits within a former factoryIn addition, the architects inserted three large windows that function like a storefront for the studio and increase its connection to the street outside.
      A two-storey structure that resembles two stacked boxes and contains all of the studio’s amenties was built in the centre of the space. At ground floor level, an office, dressing room and toilet are clad in marine-grade plywood.

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      A set of stairs at the back of the plywood volume leads up to a floor wrapped in white-painted steel. This open top floor overhangs the space below and will be used as a large photostudio space with a reception and open-plan office.
      The architects left the original factory space with its brick and plaster walls largely untouched to function as a “continuous and rhythmic open space”.
      The interior was painted white and decorated with wooden furnitureThe original street-facing entrance on the south side was moved to the back so that before entering the office, you now have to pass through a semi-enclosed courtyard.
      “We pay attention not only to the indoor space, but also to the outdoor space, and even the relationship of the entire park, as well as the relationship between the history and the present of this space,” the architects told Dezeen.
      “We designed the space very delicately to allow users and visitors to enjoy it. [To be] people-oriented is our ultimate goal.”
      Windows were inserted to function as storefront-style glazingThis project has been shortlisted in the small workspace interiors category of Dezeen Awards 2022.
      Other projects in the category include a part-workspace and part-community hub in a sleepy fishing village in Taiwan, and a wine-bar workspace for a consultancy company in Sweden.
      Photography is by Xiaowen Jin unless stated otherwise.

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      FOG Architecture creates kinetic display for Super Seed's Hangzhou store

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      Chinese studio FOG Architecture has added over a hundred moving display boxes to skincare brand Super Seed’s latest retail store in Hangzhou, China.

      The studio installed 168 kinetic semitransparent acrylic boxes in the main product display area of the 300-square-metre store.
      Its aim was for the boxes to help create a variety of different display combinations, while also encouraging more interactions between the visitors and the products.
      Over one hundred movable acrylic display boxes are installed at the storeAn electric motor moves the boxes, which were programmed to move vertically in two different ways.
      Under the static mode, the boxes can move up and down to one of three height levels, while under the dynamic mode, seven height levels can be selected.

      FOG Architecture uses steel ropes and stranded wires to hang the boxes from the ceiling and selected 20 millimetres per second as their moving speed after multiple tests, to ensure maximum security and smooth movement.
      The boxes can move up and down at various heights”It challenges the divorce between fixtures and furnishings in traditional spaces by softening the borderlines between itself and the walls, floor, ceiling, and lighting,” FOG Architecture said of the installation.
      “This novel installation redefines the formal expression of the functionality of shelves, producing a unique spatial experience,” it added.
      Display areas can be easily transformed for different purposesThe studio has also designed a series of modular chairs to go with the display boxes. These wooden chairs can be placed next to the acrylic boxes when they’re at floor level, helping to create a seating and display area.
      “Unique shopping experiences rely on the creative interpretation of conventional spaces and the innovative application of everyday functionalities,” said the studio.
      “In this case, we envisioned a retail method different from packed shelving units, and proposed a multipurpose, interactive, and interesting display structure.”

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      Next to the product display area, there are five “labs” where visitors can try out the products. FOG Architecture used metal counters to give this area a futuristic feel that would highlight Super Seed’s technology and research background.
      At the entrance of the store, an inflatable wall adds softness to the otherwise hard space where metal, glass and acrylic are the main materials.
      Metal counters are used to make the space feel like a labVarious plant exhibitions can be found throughout the store in a nod to the fact that the skincare brand is plant-based.
      Dried plants were placed in capsule-shaped containers, while green plants were mixed with the beauty products in the acrylic display boxes, creating an intriguing visual effect through the frosted semitransparent boxes.
      An inflatable wall installation is used to soften the spaceFOG Architecture was founded by Zheng Yu and Zhan Di and has offices in London, Shanghai and Chongqing.
      Its recently finished projects include fragrance brand To Summer’s flagship store in Shanghai, which was longlisted in the large retail interiors category of Dezeen Awards 2022.
      The photography is by SFAP.
      Project credits:
      Design team: Deng Ye, Zou Dejing, Hou Shaokai, Zhang Wanyi, Jiang Lu, Zhan Di, Zheng YuLighting design: Zhang Xu (LB Design)Installation Design: Shanghai Faithture Props Co., Ltd.Structure Consultant: Tao XinweiManaging Contractor: Youlong Jinsheng

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      Three hundred beer crates form furnishings of Shenyang's Fatface Coffee shop

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      Bottle-green beer crates are stacked to construct a long counter and matching stools in this pop-up coffee shop in Shenyang, China, designed by architecture practice Baicai.

      Installed in the city’s Window Gallery for a month, the pop-up shop belongs to local cafe Fatface Coffee. Its interior makes use of 300 beer cases to create a central bar and stools with cork seat pads.
      Shenyang’s Fatface Coffee pop-up uses beer crates as furnitureShortlisted in the small interiors category of the 2022 Dezeen Awards, the design hopes to merge Shenyang’s love of beer with its emerging coffee culture.
      “Shenyang is a city beaming with a love for beer,” local studio Bacai explained. “The city’s fondness for beer is expressed in its popularity across the streets and its ever-presence in the daily converse of the residents.”
      “How can the coffee culture respond to the city’s attachment to beer? This pop-up shop aspires to explore the energising dynamics between the two seemingly opposite cultures.”

      Cork was used to form seat pads for the stoolsThe studio says it chose to work with beer crates as they are economical, modular, reusable and help to create a strong visual identity inside the Fatface Coffee shop.
      Custom-made cork seat pads sit on top of the beer cases to form the stools, while a glass panel was cut into shape to create the bar’s countertop.

      Sik Mul Sung

      “The strategy explores the endless possibilities of what a beer case could be: a bar counter, seating of various heights, an exhibition stage or a screen to hide the frameworks for water and electricity,” said Baicai.
      “The project experiments with the confluence between beer and coffee, bridging meaningful dialogues between what is local and what is imported.”
      The bar counter is topped with a glass sheetFatface Coffee’s large central bar was designed to challenge the conventional floor plan of a cafe, and according to Baicai creates a more open, democratic space where baristas and guests can circulate freely.
      Other projects shortlisted in the small interiors category at this year’s Dezeen Awards include a yellow attic conversion in Antwerp and a serene timber and travertine reading room in Shanghai by Atelier Tao+C.
      The photography is by Topia Vision.

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      Atelier Tao+C creates serene timber and travertine reading room

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      Two vacant ground-floor rooms and an adjoining greenhouse were knocked together and lined with bookshelves to form this private library, designed by Atelier Tao+C for a venture capital firm in Shanghai.

      Set in a converted 1980s house, which is home to the offices of VC fund Whales Capital, the reading room can accommodate up to 12 people and is shared between the company’s employees and the owner’s friends.
      Atelier Tao+C has created a reading room for Whales CapitalAll of the rooms are enclosed by immovable, load-bearing walls, which local practice Atelier Tao+C had to integrate into the design while creating the impression of being in one continuous 76-square-metre space.
      To this effect, the original doors and windows were removed and three openings – measuring between two and three metres wide – were created to connect the rooms.
      The space is lined with wooden bookshelvesThe remaining wall sections are hidden from view by new architectural elements including a set of semi-circular wooden bookshelves, which run through the two ground-floor rooms to form a pair of small, quiet reading nooks.

      The structural walls connecting these rooms to the old glasshouse were wrapped in creamy white travertine to create a kind of “sculptural volume”, Atelier Tao+C explained.
      Skylights funnel natural light into the interiorAs a result, the studio says the walls and structural columns are “dissolved” into the space to create the feeling of a more open-plan interior.
      In the old greenhouse, a timber structure was inserted into the building’s glass shell, with bookshelves integrated into its wooden beams and columns to create a seamless design.

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      This structure also forms a wooden ceiling inside the glasshouse, with strategically placed round and square skylights to temper the bright daylight from outside and create a more pleasant reading environment.
      Spread across the interior are four different seating areas: a small study table for solo work, a shared meeting table, a reading booth for one person and a sofa seat where multiple people can talk and relax.
      White travertine was used to obscure the building’s original brick wallsA Private Reading Room has been shortlisted in the small interiors category of the 2022 Dezeen Awards.
      Atelier Tao+C, which is run by designers Chunyan Cai and Tao Liu, is also shortlisted for emerging interior design studio this year, alongside Sydney firm Alexander & Co, Barcelona-based Raúl Sánchez Architects and London practice House of Grey.
      The photography is by Wen Studio.

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