-
Architects: OFFICE AIO
- Area: 151 m²
- Year: 2022
-
Photographs:Wen Studio
Text description provided by the architects. If a restaurant chain ever considers itself an active storyteller in the art and science of serving food-lovers, why stick to one identity? So often do chain restaurants play the safe route by sticking to one branded spatial design that looks the same everywhere. That isn't the case for Chubby Girl's Noodle Bar, whose specialty, Chongqing's local dish “xiaomian”, captures the hearts of many Beijingers. Its latest branch is an iteration of its aspirations as a passionate restaurateur. Though carrying on with crispness and openness, the new store is not a duplicate, and the executives returned to OFFICE AIO again for another complete design. The collaboration does not seek to adapt the previous one to the new venue, but expand on its last concept, to create a sequel. OFFICE AIO remains committed to the multilayered verticality of Chongqing's idiosyncratic cityscape. Albeit, with a new strategy, one that deftly creates an interplay of the cyber age's connectedness and the industrial physicality of the last century.
OFFICE AIO erected several columns strategically on the floor plan. Inspired by the exterior of Chongqing's high-rises, the team picked six types of tiles and adorned the slender columns in a variety of patterns. The tiles even bleed out mischievously from the column to the floor. Though these columns do not support the ceiling, they remain critical structural elements in a distinctive way. LED tubes do not hang from the ceiling. Instead, they extend out from the columns with custom-design aluminum joints. As the tubes change color throughout the day, juxtaposing the tiles and concrete floor, they speak of the energy that permeates a futuristic networked city. Like the elevated paths thrusting between the slender buildings crowding the hilly landscape, the tiled columns gently hug the center tables. Made by a seamless slab of translucent fiberglass, the 5.5-meter-long "floating" table gives each customer quick access to the utensils in the drawers. This airiness of industrial smoke is further enhanced by the mirror glazed with gradience on the perimeter of the dining area. The mirrors partially opened up the space while obscuring foot traffic.
The shopfront of this new destination is lined with an array of soft inflated tarp puffs. The bloated wall gives off a subtle sense of quirkiness that is in resonance with the Chubby Girl identity, whilst providing a cushioning wall as a friendly gesture in response to the long queueing norm that had grown to become synonymous with the brand. Inside the restaurant, these tarp puffs held together by customized stainless steel scaffolding demarcate the workspaces between the kitchen and customers. Understanding the client's need in optimizing workflow, the team proposed a solution that turns all storage cabinets 90 degrees, creating multiple recessed areas where the staff can work uninterrupted by customer traffic while remaining seen.
This new store showcases how OFFICE AIO enriches a brand without compromising clarity, expanding an idea with flexibility, which gives a young brand depth and body as it matures in serving its staff and customers.
