Dance under the waves -- AFRiCONIC Boutique Bistro of Red Wine | Atelier Tree Chiong

 Project Information


Design Studio: Atelier Tree


Chief Architect: Casen Chiong


Design Team:

Architects: Casen Chiong, Qianhan Zhao, Xiaokun Huang, Dan Zeng, Lei Du,Qiao Kang, Qijia Guan(Intern)


Program: Architecture Renovation, Commercial Exhibition, Interior Design

Building area: 47m²


Client: Beijing Ai Fei Jia Trading Co., Ltd.


Construction team: Beijing Feng Yi Da Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd.

Processing and Installation of New Metal Components:

Beijing Chuangtuo Xinsheng Stainless Steel Co., Ltd.

Project location: West Xinglong Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China

Design date: December 2018 –February 2019

Completion date: May 2019

Photographer: Atelier Tree

Article Translation: Shi Lu

Project Description

At the beginning of design, Atelier Tree is deeply infected by both client‘s affection of South Africa and romantic love stories in chateau. Against from taking advantage of local traditional symbols, colors and other elements directly, we wish to take nutrients from the broader environment where grows grape and gestate red wines. Atelier Tree tried to profoundly experience the atmosphere of the origin of design object — the impressive and magnificent nature of southern Africa continent where chateaus locate, and the unique climate, geography and human landscape all inspired the sensitive cells of Atelier Tree. The prototype of AFRiCONIC Boutique Bistro of Red Wine is shaped as the deep understanding and careful organizations of functional demands are intrigued by the amazing energy of rough waves in Cape of Good Hope.

Invisible but strong as the natural force is, we feel, experience and attempt to conduct and guide it both mentally and spiritually, which all helps it to promote the natural growth of spatial components’ new outline.

As the metal door head on the blue brick columns undulates on the building facade, a small bar of flowing note is stroke out. Street views are introduced into the interior space as the original framed glass doors and windows are replaced with large area of hidden framing glass, which at the same time can enable the interactions between city streetscape and the spatial form and human activities all inside the store through the glass window.

The bistro is divided into two main parts: sales area on the first floor and the appreciating and communicating area on the second floor.

On the first floor of 23 square meters, there is a need to install a variety of functions such as displaying area of wine racks, reception bar area, negotiation lounge, utility room, wine coolers area and stairs. As a result, we break the single way in which the wines are displayed in a certain and centralized area and set up separate display boxes for each bottle of vintage wine. These glass boxes with independent light sources are inlaid in the middle of the metal columns and placed at a proper viewing height. Straight and confident as the column stands, as if a dancer who is about to dance, the noble and glorious quality of red wine is strongly demonstrated. Evenly distributed in the space of first floor and re-dividing the space, boxes are not only the boundaries of each functional area but also the connections and centers of them, which makes the multiple areas rather distinct, well fused with each other and also fairly circulating as a whole. Refined functions are presented in tiny size, however are also carefully designed to ensure comfortable and reasonable use. As the presence of the standing columns expanding the displaying area in fact, the displaying function clones its self and penetrates into the entire space of first floor where customers can easily and intimately get to our vintage wines no matter they walk around or sit down.

It is the appreciating and communicating area on the second floor, where the metal partition, compound with displaying function, gently separates the buffer porch and appreciating area. With its own crispation, the partition interface, together with the horizontal shelves, forms a reasonable mechanical entirety and successfully builds its own steadiness and the supporting of exhibiting items. The partition grows upwards and shapes the partial mental ceiling, which makes the private enclosure of appreciating area more lively and a significant element of the second floor. Expanding toward the exterior, the storefront windows connected with each other and developed into an unbroken opening, which horizontally extends and provides a comfortable space of bay window where guests can sit upon the air. Leaves on the border trees, pedestrians and traffic flows on the road and the distant stretching roofs of quadrangles respectively make up into the close, medium and long shots.

Instead of sculpturing a brand new perfect face by fully decorating and shading the original one, we hope that the participation of new elements can shine together with the primary space elements. Through the wave-shaped fluctuation presented by the new mental partition and ceiling, guests may receive the radiation of strong power from the sea waves in Cape of Good Hope in South Africa or get excited for the vitality flowing on the street. Interacting with and depending on the floor, beam frame and roofing of the initial wooden structure, the new components also accomplished its own growth. Figures and cambers of the motions are altering the status of the upper, the lower, the left-hand and the right-hand space. They turned into notes and defined the new rhythm of space movement.

The new mental pillars, partition and ceiling are constructed by oblate stainless steel sticks in a unified size, neutralizing the strong dynamic as whole in consort with the crevice. Matte surface of the stainless steel sticks reflects the wood structure, white walls and the indistinct color and lighting of the outdoor landscape and in turn presents a physiognomy, which is light, mild, transparent and environmentally integrated. Crevice has maintained the continuity of guests’ sight and the sunlight on both sides of the new interface, as air flows freely around. These dynamic components tranquilly fit in the surrounding by decomposing themselves, and creating a new space afterwards.

With the new component elements, born of function, cooperating with ground, walls, beams, and slope roofs of the original space, the passion of South Africa collides and merges with the traditional architectural space of the old town in Beijing. Rapid turbulences and stormy waves beating the huge reefs on the coast in Cape of Good Hope in distant Africa, it is the scenery solidified in Hu tong by AFRiCONIC for an instant, where a stirring movement of the power of cultural integration strikes without any sound, purely and joyfully, passionately and sincerely.