Xiamen, Fujian, China
Cai Xunna and Lin Jiacheng of Cunjiang Panda Architectural Design have completed an impressive new coffee shop for 1/2 Coffee & Bar on the ground level of the 19th-Century Deji Company Building, which is a dome building with a natural sea view, located in Dadeji Bathing Beach on Shengqi Mountain of Gulangyu Island.
The architectural design combines the island’s natural characteristics responding to the brand’s ambition with a diverse and composite space.
The round architectural lines appear natural and harmonious next to the Dadeji Beach on Gulangyu Island.
A simplified veranda architectural style is adopted to retain a large proportion of the original architectural form.
The small-leaf ficus commonly seen on the island grows indoors in another way, where the main steel structures look like tree trunks, growing around the space and stretching out a broad “canopy” covering the ceiling, to create shadows and a shelter from the sun and rain in the humid, hot, and rainy subtropical region. It also creates an unseen space for ventilation and heat dissipation.
Layers of leaves on the canopy form shadowy lights under the illumination of the “sunshine”, projected on the ground.
In the 1/2 Coffee & Bar, light strips are embedded in the gaps between the “twigs and trees” on the top, full of leisurely fun.
When night falls, the surrounding is gradually wrapped in darkness, and the 1/2 Coffee & Bar shows its second identity.
The gentle daytime forest sparks under the modern neon light.
Whether it’s the 1/2 logo, the “trunk”, or the “shade” big or small, they all have a bolder and modern appearance appealing to nightlife lovers.
The gradually mature design skill is something to be commended.
However, it is also necessary to avoid the stereotypes of strong vision and atmosphere.
Giving a new entry point for the new generation of designers, designer Lin Jiacheng starts from the urban context, history and culture, and natural resources to create a spatial memory for 1/2 Coffee & Bar that belongs to Gulangyu Island.
Project: CUN PANDA NANA
Architects: Cunjiang Panda Architectural Design
Lead Architects: Cai Xuanna and Lin Jiacheng
Lighting Design: Vidlux&Crisman
Photographers: Liu Xinghao, Yan Yu Architectural Space Photography, and Yu Vision
