Beijing, China

Coloratus Bar is a recently completed project in Beijing by Wang Songtao of Soong Lab+ that uses color to its full potential hoping to stimulate the wild energy of the place from the inside out through an abstract emotional concept.

A courtyard-style hot spring resort hotel will be opened in an aesthetic creative park outside the North Fifth Ring Road of Beijing.

Its architecture, interior and landscape are all designed by Soong Lab+.

Coloratus Bar, located on the second floor of the hotel room zone, is the first small experience space completed in the whole project.

The staircase leading to the bar entrance connects the main corridor of the hotel rooms, and also leads directly to the hot spring area.

The characteristic of this moving line makes the operation of the bar flexible and diversified, which will not only serve the guests of the hotel in the future but also will be open to the public at a specific time.

Red is one of the earliest colors recognized and used by humans.

Layers of red sediment on the rock are from time immemorial; Cave men used to sprinkle dark red hematite powder at the sacrificial ceremony; Stone Age ancestors painted pottery with red paint to celebrate light.

The Liangzhou red flower in ancient Chinese books explains the romantic nature of red.

But here, red is not just about the material, it’s also about the emotions it evokes.

Primitive vitality is the mood of “red,” which Soong Lab+ takes as the design theme of Coloratus Bar, guiding visitors to explore the correlation between the space, emotional expression, and themselves.

The original site of this bar has plenty of height space with some high windows, but the area is similar in size to a narrow passage.

In this limited and special plan, how to construct a rich experience, while expressing the emotional concept of ‘red’, were the challenges presented to Wang Songtao.

By adding floors and controlling scales, the original site “grows” into a double-story space with a small double-height area.

At the end of the first floor is a staircase hall, which serves as a vertical passage between the two floors.

The staircase hall contains metal tubes through an ordered arrangement to form a “screen,” which not only ensures the safety of passage but also provides a special experience.

Under the shelter of this “screen,” visitors complete the emotional transformation from the first floor to the second, that is, from a quiet space to an expansive area, full of abundant natural light and a wide view.

The bar counter area with double height eliminates the isolation between floors and enhances the interaction between the upper and lower.

At the same time, the natural light pouring down from the second floor brings changes to the bar area at different times, making visitors have different emotional feelings.

Except for drinking, the first floor mainly supports the moving lines, while the second floor is relatively immersed, where one can stay for a long time.

On the second floor, the building’s original long windows give natural light and a city view back to visitors.

The surrounding colonnades form several secondary spaces, which remain transparent through layers.

They are like “containers of light” that echo the long windows, creating different light and shadow experiences.

At the end of the second floor, behind a hollowed brick wall, the noise gradually recedes, and there is a semi-closed area that provides more choices for visitors and is more suitable for a small gatherings.

The simple color of red creates a direct sensory impact and shock.

Through it, people’s experiences and feelings are transformed and condensed into emotional power with original vitality.

Project: Coloratus Bar
Architects: Soong Lab+
Lead Architect: Wang Songtao
Design Team: Jane Zhang, Xiaoyu Wang, Shuai Li, Mengya Chang, Shujun Yang
Soft Furnishing: AtelierTing
Construction Firm: Jiangsu Feiyi Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.
Client: Joyous Garden
Photography: Wu Ang