Excerpt: Grid Coffee by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio is a project that seeks to explore innovative approaches to communal public life. The project draws inspiration from the distinctive characteristics of the site and it seamlessly extends the spatial sequences and behavioral patterns inherent in the market, emphasizing functional operations by integrating the display, storage, and sale of goods within limited stalls.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] Context: The café is located in Beijing’s SanYuanLi Food Market, which serves the entire SanYuanLi community and has a unique geographical position due to its proximity to the embassy district and southern orientation towards the LiangMa River. The market offers a diverse array of stalls, ingredients, and a rich cultural atmosphere, reflecting traditional living scenes in contemporary urban settings. It radiates lively energy amidst conflict and integration.
Positioned at the northern entrance of the marketplace, one side of the café faces the street, while the other side serves as the initial retail focal point, capturing the attention of passersby. Despite its modest 25m2 footprint, the café undeniably commands a significant nodal space
Design Concept: Colin Rowe’s ‘Collage City’ introduced the concept of ‘contextualism’, stating that cities represent the accumulation of architecture from various historical stages. However, urbanization has led to the weakening of distinctive features like folk street market culture, and the vibrancy of daily life scenes has been replaced by indifferent and impersonal spatial norms.
With this design, the designers’ objective is to initiate a discourse on street, community revitalization, and urban connections, aiming to explore innovative approaches to communal public life. Leveraging the exceptional location and distinctive site constraints, this project employs a dual-track design approach. Their focus is on establishing both the ‘uniqueness’ and ‘everyday sensibility’ of the community space, seamlessly integrating the distinctive spatial ambiance into daily life.
– ‘Uniqueness’: How to infuse new vitality into daily life scenes?
Given the unique refinement and fashion sensibilities inherent in the SanYuanLi Market, coupled with the distinctive stand-and-sip and all-you-can-eat coffee experience offered by Grid Coffee, establishing a distinctive ambiance is crucial for this project. The entrance façade features what appears to be a random and fortuitous design, highlighting a naturalistic and artistic sensibility. The shape formed by the concrete resembles a framing element, capturing people in the market as they relax and enjoy coffee. The handcrafted copper door, in contrast with the rough and weighty concrete, creates a visually striking contrast, allowing it to stand out in the lively street scene without dominating the overall space.
The coffee shop’s façade design within the market maintains consistent coherence. The selling window features a unique opening and closing mechanism, adding a distinctive and amusing touch to the selling process. When open, it not only showcases the interaction between selling and experience but also integrates emotional communication between urban life and community scenes. On the other hand, when closed, the exquisite hand-hammered copper plate forms a striking contrast with the bustling market, resembling a piece of art exhibited within the market.
The interior design unfolds with a coherent narrative, emphasizing the ritualistic essence of stand-and-sip coffee engagement. The sculptural bar intricately divides the 25m2 space into two separate zones, seamlessly accommodating both experiential and retail functions. Its nearly right-angled corner effortlessly separates the ordering and standing-and-sip realms, establishing a cohesive and organized spatial configuration. On the customer experience side, recessed alcoves and learning areas are designed to meet the specific requirements of order placement and internal standing-and-sip behavior separately.
-“Everyday Sensibility”: How to capture urban memories and extend the fabric of the neighborhood?
In the vibrant SanYuanLi Market, where the essence of daily necessities intertwines with the aroma of cooking, the project draws inspiration from the distinctive characteristics of the site and it seamlessly extends the spatial sequences and behavioral patterns inherent in the market, emphasizing functional operations by integrating the display, storage, and sale of goods within limited stalls. Building upon this concept, the project introduces window-type retail spaces on the inner façade of the café within the market, fostering interaction among various stalls and blurring the boundaries between the café and the market.
The limited stall spaces allow for a rich and accessible display of products. The open coffee bean showcase at the entrance bar and the market retail window respond to this feature, creating a sense of immediacy that naturally connects customers with the market experience.
The daily ebb and flow of fresh ingredients within the market, guided by seasonal and market dynamics, is reflected in the suspended product signs. This functionality empowers vendors to swiftly update and adjust prices in response to changing offerings. This concept gave rise to ‘price tags’ for coffee beans, emphasizing their temporary nature through a hanging presentation. Different varieties of coffee beans are represented using solid wood boards with distinct colors and textures, and these signs can be easily adjusted to complement various scenes and seasons.
Despite differences in form, material, or technique, the essence of the market is abstractly and subtly translated into the new space, resonating with the vibrant daily life atmosphere of the market. The design aims to harmonize tradition, creating a space where people can connect with the lively rhythm of the market’s everyday life.
Material and Construction: Due to spatial constraints, this project prioritizes simplicity in material selection while seeking richness and vibrancy in detail expression. It showcases a sense of layers through the unique textures, glossiness, and color variations of each material. Simultaneously, the designers emphasize the handcrafted nature of the materials and the involvement in the construction process to present a more natural state that resonates with the ambiance bestowed by the site. Beginning with the entrance design, they have discarded rigid forms and, through the manual craftsmanship of designers and construction artisans, created a crafted “primitive” look.
The sliding doors at the entrance feature 175 oxidized copper squares (single side) and cherry wood chips. Instead of using machine-cut grooves and direct assembly, we opted for the manual assembly of individual pieces. This approach resulted in a discontinuous and unique pattern.
The indoor bar’s countertop serves as the most interactive surface for customers. Reflecting Grid Coffee’s commitment to single-origin coffee, the designers collected brand coffee beans. Through multiple prototyping iterations, they blended these beans with aggregates to achieve a randomly scattered effect on the appearance. This addition introduces an element of fun to the coffee tasting experience.
The hand-cast ribbed façade exposes aggregates, emphasizing edges and creating a distinctive texture. For the surfaces directly touched by customers, including storage tables and backrests, they chose elm wood. The traces of time on the wood impart an imperfectly pristine quality yet exuding a warm atmosphere.
Conclusion: Despite its modest scale, this space transformation project is dedicated to enhancing the vibrancy of urban neighborhoods and cultivating new relationships within communities. Memories woven into the fabric of streets and communities undergo revitalization and are expressed in innovative ways, igniting a profound affection among city residents and, by extension, for life itself.
Drawings & Before Images
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