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      Atelier XY covers cocktail bar in Shanghai with over 1,000 insects

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      Preserved tarantulas and beetles decorate the shadowy rooms inside this bar in Shanghai, China designed by local studio Atelier XY.Atelier XY designed the bar, which is called J Boroski, to reflect its owners’ interest in insects.
      It’s located in Shanghai French Concession – a region of the city that was occupied and governed by the French state from 1849 up until 1943. Over the last few decades the area has been redeveloped, and it’s now host to a number of eateries, boutiques and quaint music venues.

      Top image: beetles cover the surfaces of the bar. Above: a glass-brick wall runs down the back of the room
      To enter the bar, visitors walk through an assuming door and up through a dark stairwell.

      “It acts as a transition between the noisy exterior and the quiet interior. Once the reception is reached, the unique character of this place slowly reveals itself,” explained the studio.

      Behind the partition are dimly lit lounge areas
      The main bar area inside is dominated by a 12-metre-long counter where up to eight mixologists can stand and rustle up cocktail orders.
      Amber-hued lights illuminate drink bottles on display, fostering a sense of warmth.

      Office AIO’s Bar Lotus in Shanghai turns from daytime cafe into evening cocktail bar

      A gridded teak-wood framework covers the wall directly behind the counter and extends up to cover half the bar’s ceiling. Every square opening in the grid is centred by a beetle – in total there are 1,254.

      Dark leather furniture features throughout the bar
      Along the rear of the bar is a glass brick wall, through the centre of which runs a series of see-through blocks that contain 42 preserved Thai Black tarantulas.
      It has also been inbuilt with a couple of black-iron drawers – when pulled out, further taxidermy insect specimens are revealed. These can also double-up as small ledges where standing visitors in the bar can rest their drinks.

      Preserved spiders are set inside the glass-brick wall
      The wall separates the bar from a couple of dim lounge areas dressed with comfy armchairs upholstered in dark, umber-coloured leather.
      A small amount of light is offered by a handful of tealight candles in glass tumblers.

      The bar includes a lab-style space where guests can watch cocktails being made
      There is also what the studio describes as a “chamber room”, which lies behind a heavy glass-brick door. Inside there’s a laboratory-style space where visitors will be invited to watch mixologists experiment with making drinks, using extravagant tools like centrifuges or rotary distillation machines.
      The dark colour palette of the bar seeps through into the bathroom, which is completely clad in glazed, oxblood-coloured tiles. It’s centred by a lengthy wooden sink.

      Oxblood-coloured tiles cover the bar’s bathroom
      Atelier XY is based in Shanghai and was established in 2018 by Qi Xiaofeng and Wang Yuyang.
      Its J. Boroski project is shortlisted in the bar interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards. It will go up against spaces such as The Berkeley Bar & Terrace by Bryan O’Sullivan Studio, which features ornate plasterwork friezes, walnut wall panelling and a blush-pink snug where guests can retire with their drinks.
      Photography is courtesy of Schran Images and Hu Yanyun.
      Project credits:
      Design: Atelier XYTeam: Qi Xiaofeng, Wang Yuyang, Chen XiProduct design: Notion Common, Atelier XYLighting: Zenko lighting design

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      Outdoor dining on New York City streets becomes permanent

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      New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has made the Open Restaurants Program, which allows restaurants in the city to extend seating onto streets, sidewalks and public spaces, permanent following the coronavirus pandemic.First temporarily initiated in June to allow restaurants to continue doing business while adhering to social distancing restrictions, the programme will now be a year-round fixture, De Blasio announced on 25 September.
      The Open Restaurants Program, which has seen outdoor dining spaces pop up across the city, will boost the capacity of restaurants as they open indoor dining at 50 per cent capacity as New York gradually reopens after the coronavirus lockdown.
      Restaurants allowed to heat outdoor spaces and build tents
      Under the scheme, eateries are allowed to extend seating onto sidewalks and roadways, or onto adjacent outdoor spaces with their neighbours’ consent. Establishments must follow a list of requirements for an Open Restaurant design, which include a clear path on the pavement, a maximum distance from the curb and a required height of enclosing barriers.
      De Blasio’s extension will also introduce guidelines for restaurants to heat outdoor areas during the colder winter months, which will be released by the end of September.

      David Rockwell unveils kit to build restaurants on streets following pandemic

      These regulations will allow the installation of electrical heaters on both sidewalks and roadways, and propane and natural gas heaters only on pavements. Propane will require a permit from New York City Fire Department.
      Restaurants will also be able to build tents, ranging from partial to full enclosures, in order to keep diners warm.
      Outdoor seating enables safe dining amid pandemic
      Food establishments will have to apply online for permission to become an Open Restaurant. Three or more restaurants on a street that is closed to traffic can also apply together to expand outdoors in another option known as Open Streets: Restaurants.
      Following the city lockdown, more than 10,300 restaurants citywide reopened with activities outdoors over summer, according to the New York Times, allowing them to stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic.
      A number of architects and designers also came up with creative ways for restaurants to allow safe dining post-Covid-19. In May, ahead of New York’s outdoor dining programme, designer David Rockwell created a kit of parts to turn the city’s streets into outdoor restaurants with socially distanced dining.
      His firm, Rockwell Group, later built a pro-bono DineOut NYC project (pictured top) comprising 120 seats for restaurants on Mott Street in Chinatown.
      Arts centre Mediamatic also developed a socially distanced dining experience in Amsterdam where guests sit in their own greenhouse and hosts wear face shields.
      Photograph of DineOut NYC is by Emily Andrews for Rockwell Group.

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      Blue Bottle Coffee cafe in Yokohama spotlights natural materials

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      Oak chairs sit amongst paper yarn-wrapped columns within this Blue Bottle Coffee cafe in Yokohama, Japan created by Keiji Ashizawa Design and Norm Architects.The Blue Bottle Coffee cafe occupies a glass-front building in Yokohama’s bustling business district, Minatomirai, and looks out across a leafy public park.
      This setting became a key point of reference for Tokyo-based studio Keiji Ashizawa Design, which has exclusively decked out the interiors of the cafe with natural materials.

      Top image: Paper yarn wraps around the cafe’s columns. Above: A curved bar is at the centre of the floor plan
      “We have aimed to create an atmosphere which welcomes the local community by mainly using wood, inspired by the park located by the Blue Bottle Coffee Minatomirai,” said the studio’s eponymous founder, Keiji Ashizawa.

      “The building acts as the main character of the park and provides a feeling of kindness with the natural materials in the industrial-looking landscape.”

      A local park inspired the natural material palette of the cafe
      The open floor plan of the cafe is dominated by a huge half-moon service bar, behind which staff prepare drink orders. Its base is clad with slats of light-hued timber, while its countertop is made from flecked grey stone.
      Pale timber has additionally been used for the cafe’s flooring and its circular tables. Timber also forms smaller decorative elements like the menu board and a couple of oversized, ring-shaped lights that have been suspended from the ceiling.

      Norm Architects designed the seating throughout the cafe
      A series of white, spherical pendant lamps that hang above the cafe’s high counter provide extra light as evening falls.

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      In keeping with the natural material palette, braided paper yarn has been wound around the lower half of the grey support columns that run along the periphery of the room.

      Some of the chairs are upholstered in creamy leather
      Keiji Ashizawa Design asked long-term collaborators, Copenhagen-based practice Norm Architects, to devise a range of seating for the project.
      The practice designed three chair models made from Japanese oak wood: a traditional cafe-style chair, a tall bar stool and a slightly more formal dining chair that’s partially upholstered in creamy leather – its low, curving backrest is meant to draw subtle reference to the cafe’s architecture.

      The frames of the chairs are made from Japanese oak
      All of the pieces were produced by Karimoku Case Study, the sister brand of Japanese manufacturer Karimoku which collaborates with architects across the world to design furnishings.
      Norm Architects and Keiji Ashizawa Design had first worked with Karimoku Case Study back in 2019 on the launch of its inaugural Kinuta collection.

      The facade of the cafe is made from glass
      “For us, there couldn’t be a better partner to team up with than Karimoku,” explained Frederik Werner, partner at Norm Architects.
      “They uphold a unique quality and approach to the manufacturing of wooden furniture, maintaining a focus on the craftsmanship combined with the latest robotics, making sure that their philosophy of ‘high-tech, high-touch’ is truly embedded in each furniture piece leaving the factory.”

      Customers can spill out onto an outdoor seating area
      This is one of several Blue Bottle Coffee cafes in Japan, with others located in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kobe.
      The coffee brand was founded by James Freeman in 2002, starting out as a small roastery in Oakland, California before growing into a network of cafes across the US and Asia.
      Last year saw Blue Bottle Coffee open its first branch in South Korea, which was designed by Schemata Architects. The cafe is situated in the artsy neighbourhood of Seongsu and features sparse interiors dotted with timber furniture and red-brick display plinths.
      Photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.
      Project credits:
      Design: Keiji Ashizawa & Norm ArchitectsConstruction: #TankFurniture: Karimoku Case Study

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      Four Pillars Laboratory in Sydney is a “sanctuary” for gin enthusiasts

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      Juniper berry-blue furniture sits against blackened walls inside this cosy bar, laboratory and store that design studio YSG has created in Sydney for gin brand Four Pillars. Four Pillars Laboratory occupies a two-storey corner building in Sydney’s buzzing Surry Hills neighbourhood. It was originally built in 1939 as premises for a tea company, but has
      The post Four Pillars Laboratory in Sydney is a “sanctuary” for gin enthusiasts appeared first on Dezeen. More

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      Maison François brasserie in London takes cues from Ricardo Bofill's architecture

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      Soaring arches reminiscent of those seen in Ricardo Bofill’s La Fabrica feature in this decadent restaurant in St James, London designed by creative director John Whelan.Whelan – who leads artist collective The Guild of Saint Luke – told Dezeen that, prior to his intervention, Maison François simply looked like “one giant concrete cube”.
      The materiality of the space immediately encouraged Whelan to base his interiors scheme around La Fabrica – an abandoned cement factory just outside of Barcelona that Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill transformed into offices for his practice in 1973.

      The interiors of the restaurant are inspired by Ricardo Bofill’s La Fabrica
      “I always try and find a creative route that respects the DNA of the building, and this felt appropriate,” said Whelan.

      “Furthermore, the client wanted to reference historic brasseries but create a contemporary version – also reflected in the food.”

      Arched recesses have been made in the restaurant’s terracotta walls
      The exterior of Bofill’s La Fabrica is notably punctuated with soaring arched windows. These have been reinterpreted inside Maison François, which boasts terracotta-coloured stucco walls inset with shallow arch-shaped recesses.
      “La Fabrica is probably the greatest home that I will probably never visit, and so the arches were a sort of ‘homage’ to that wonderful creation,” explained Whelan.

      Tubular chandeliers hang from the restaurant’s ceiling
      Walnut has been used to craft the restaurant’s seating banquettes – their latticed backs are inspired by the pews in Germany’s modernist Maria Heimsuchung church, which Whelan came across in a photography series by Robert Goetzfried.
      Chairs have been upholstered in creamy linen to match the colour of the lacquered-wood dining tables. Tubular chandeliers have also been suspended from the ceiling, which has been finished with a faux-cement patina.

      The seating banquettes are crafted from walnut wood
      Mahogany has been used to craft a latticed hood above the open kitchen, where dishes that draw upon traditional French cuisine will be prepared.
      Food will be served by both chefs and waiters, an attempt by the restaurant to diffuse the typical boundaries between front and back-of-house operations.
      “Maison François will be everything a brasserie should be – welcoming, fun and hospitable, with classic dishes made with the best seasonal produce we can get our hands on – whilst also ripping up the rulebook when it comes to service,” said the restaurant’s founder, François O’Neill.

      A huge clock sits above the restaurant’s open kitchen
      At the centre of the hood is a huge clock that Whelan had made bespoke from patinated nickel and bronze.
      Weighing half a ton, the grills on the side of the clock are meant to subtly mirror those that feature on the front of vintage Rolls Royce cars, often seen outside the restaurant on the affluent streets of St James.

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      “The clock is a classic of historic brasserie design, and can be found around the world from Bouillon Julien in Paris to Fischer’s in London,” added Whelan.
      “We wanted to have this iconic focal point but with our own style.”

      Underneath the restaurant is a wine bar called Frank’s
      Stairs lead down to Maison François’ adjoining wine bar, called Frank’s. This space is intended to have a slightly more industrial feel, so has been completed with exposed white-brick walls, polished concrete flooring and black-leather seating.
      Bofill’s La Fabrica is referenced again at this level but this time in the form of arched mirror wall panels.

      White-brick walls give the wine bar a more industrial look
      John Whelan established The Guild of Saint Luke in 2017, working with artists, artisans and architects to restore and revive historic French brasseries.
      Earlier this year Whelan overhauled Parisian eatery Nolinski, filling its interiors with art deco-inspired details like gold-leaf “sunburst” columns.
      Photography is by Oskar Proctor.

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      O shop in Chengdu is a lifestyle store by day and a bar by night

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      A series of mirrored panels obscure the cocktail bar that lies inside this shop-cum-cafe in Chengdu, China created by design studio Office AIO.The shop, which is unusually called O, was named by its owner and the co-founder of Office AIO, Tim Kwan.

      Taking the first letter from the word “object”, Kwan and the shop owner felt that O was the “perfect shape representing eternity – it has no beginning nor end, no direction nor a right way round”.

      The looping shape of the letter O also nods to the shifting function of the 68-square-metre shop: by day it’s a cafe that sells and showcases a curated selection of lifestyle items and designer furnishings, while at night it turns into a bar.

      Down one side of the shop runs a lengthy sandstone counter where the cafe’s coffee machine is kept. Just in front is a long wooden table where the barista can prepare drink orders.
      The base of the counter has been in-built with a fireplace, which can be switched on as night falls to evoke a cosier mood within the store.

      On the other side of the store is a silver-metal shelf where products are displayed and a row of fold-down seats upholstered in tan leather.

      Chengdu cafe features interiors inspired by Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel

      The rear of the store appears to be lined with mirrored panels, but these can be drawn back to reveal the night-time drinks bar. Liquor bottles line the inner side of the panels.

      Surfaces throughout the rest of shop O have otherwise been kept simple. A patchy band of exposed concrete runs around the lower half of the walls, but off-white paint has been applied to the upper half.
      Interest is added by a handful of potted plants and a sequence of arched screens that have been suspended just beneath the ceiling.

      The last screen has been fitted with an LED strip light that can be adjusted to imbue the space with different colours.
      “[The screens] bring a sense of character to the store without occupying any footprint,” explained the studio.
      “We hope that this space will encourage quality ideas, objects, and people to interact and exchange, and ultimately reach a wholesome experience that is objectively desirable,” it concluded.

      O by Office AIO is longlisted in the small retail interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      It isn’t the first day-to-night venue that the studio has created – two years ago it completed Bar Lotus in Shanghai, which boasts emerald-coloured walls and rippling rose-gold ceilings. The project won the restaurant and bar interior category of the 2019 Dezeen Awards, when judges commended its mix of contemporary and traditional references.
      Photography is courtesy of WEN Studio.
      Project credits:
      Designed by: Tim Kwan/Office AIOConstruction: Sichuan ChuFeng Architectural Decoration

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      Folding polycarbonate wall reveals earthy interiors of São Paulo wellness space Dois Trópicos

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      Brazilian studio MNMA has designed a spiral concrete stair and folding polycarbonate doors in this botanical store, yoga classroom and restaurant in São Paulo.Dois Trópicos has a calming earthy palette featuring local materials and crafts that MNMA chose to complement the functions of the wellness hub.

      “The concept of the project is a hybrid space, there is no determination or boundaries. We want a space that integrates gastronomy, the practice of yoga and botany,” MNMA explained. “Where people can feel in every way the importance of spending time in the chaotic city of Sao Paulo to take care of themselves, slowly and with pleasure.”

      “A commercial space that creates a homelike hosting experience, using nostalgia and natural matter, crafted by artisan hands that desire to achieve not perfection but real environments,” it added.

      Translucent polycarbonate doors set in aluminium frames front the exterior to contrast the earthy aesthetic, and allow natural light and cross-ventilation.
      “By contrast, the facade is technological, drafted and executed with precision, thought to allow sun and wind in, to avoid artificial air conditioning systems,” the studio explained.

      “The general purpose is to create a contemporary element that, when opened, would bring back some lost time of ancient forms of construction, a slow passing of time, an earthy place… it feels like ‘home’.” the studio continued.

      Slender terracotta-coloured bricks made by local craftsmen cover the flooring and form structures for washbasins, while textured soil-based render is applied by hand to the walls throughout.

      “We don’t use conventional paint to colour the walls, we literally use earth (like clay) to give this colour, the walls and ceilings are natural earth colours, we don’t use anything chemical,” MNMA said.

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      “The soil reacts allegorically to the sunlight movement along the day, turning walls, ceilings and the floor not into limits or boundaries, but into canvases for the light to express itself gradually in various forms,” it added. “As it is possible to enjoy comfortably great and authentic food, full of flavours.”

      A spiral staircase at the entrance has a rendered banister and concrete treads with a marked underside that was built using leftover wood on the construction site. It leads up to an open studio space for yoga and massages.
      “The shape was made with materials reused from demolition,” it explained. “The experience was more important than the performance of the technique, so the drawings that are usually super strict gave voice to the empiricism of the local artisans workers,” the studio added.

      A circular door punctured in the rear wall to provides access to stairs that lead down to a restaurant on the lower level. Granite gravel is laid the floor of the outdoor areas to allow for drainage of water. A glazed roof partially covers the restaurant and bar – which is also made from the pale bricks.
      Founded by André Pepato and Mariana Schmidt, MNMA has used a similarly pared-back aesthetic for a number of spaces in São Paulo. They include a retail space for Brazilian women’s clothing store Egrey and a store for shoe company Selo.
      Photography is by Andre Klotz.

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      Remi restaurant in Berlin is defined by cherry-red joinery

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      Red-stained cabinets crafted from MDF surround the open kitchen of restaurant Remi in Berlin designed by local studio Ester Bruzkus Architekten.Remi is situated near Berlin’s Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz square and is led up by Dutch chefs Lode van Zuylen and Stijn Remi.

      This is the second restaurant that the pair have in the German capital, joining Lode & Stijn which opened its doors in 2016.

      As with their inaugural restaurant, the chefs were keen for Remi to have a pared-back aesthetic – but also wanted the space to be reminiscent of the dining spots they once frequented at home in the Netherlands.

      “For Remi, we were inspired by the grand cafes of our home, where we used to enjoy eating together,” Zuylen and Remi explained.
      “We wanted to create a place where you could meet easily, whether for reading the newspaper, a quick lunch, or an intimate dinner.”

      Local studio Ester Bruzkus Architekten was brought on board to develop the interiors of Remi, which takes over the ground floor unit of a new concrete and glass office building.
      The restaurant is anchored by an open kitchen, enclosed by a series of MDF cabinets that have been stained a deep cherry red hue.

      A handful of surfaces in the kitchen have been covered in rough grey stucco, while sheets of perforated metal have been used to conceal service ducts that sit beneath the ceiling.
      “We used architectural materials that are high in quality, carefully sourced and crafted, with rigorous attention to detail,” the studio told Dezeen, “this is the very approach to ingredients that the chefs bring to crafting a meal.”

      The same red shade of MDF has been used to make the tall gridded shelves that run along the rear wall of the restaurant, openly displaying wine bottles, glassware and jars of ingredients.
      Cherry-red MDF has then been combined with black granite to form the service counter where guests are greeted by staff before being shown to their table.

      Metal-frame dining tables with grey countertops designed bespoke by Ester Bruzkus Architekten have been dotted throughout the room.
      One long communal table where guests are encouraged to “linger all day” has also been placed beside the restaurant’s entrance.

      Berlin restaurant LA Poke takes its cues from Hockney painting A Bigger Splash

      Each table is accompanied by timber or acid-yellow chairs by Danish furnishing brand Please Wait To Be Seated. There’s additionally a couple of wooden benches with seat cushions upholstered in mustard corduroy fabric by Kvadrat.
      Red, yellow and steel editions of Muller Van Severen’s Hanging Lamps have been mounted on the restaurant’s walls as decoration. White-neon tube lights also wind and intersect across the ceiling.

      Ester Bruzkus Architekten has been established since 2002. Remi isn’t the only Berlin restaurant designed by the studio – back in 2018, it completed LA Poke.
      Taking cues from David Hockney’s 1967 painting A Bigger Splash, the eatery features vibrant pops of summery hues such as cobalt blue and sunshine yellow.
      Photography is by Robert Rieger.

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