Various Associates’ C2 Cafe & Bar in Shenzhen, China, is not simply a socializing space. With a limited area of 75 meters, the site has to accommodate multiple functional areas, including a kitchen, a bar counter, a public seating area and an independent private room. As approaching the design, Various Associates firstly tried to figure out how to create a unique, distinctive and exquisite space while meeting the demands of the functional layout.
The client hoped the project could be based in different corners throughout the city and provide an urban “holiday cabin” to the community. Besides, a relaxing and intimate atmosphere was required. Taking “Cabin in City” as the design thread, Various Associates conceived an isolated, delicate and distinctive wooden cabin in the concrete jungle.
Cross-sections of cylinders can be seen everywhere in the space. Those details soften the hard edges, remove the coolness of the modern city, and produce a peaceful, cosy spatial ambience. In this space, people are able to take off all pressures and return to a serene state.
The ceiling features a unique slanting structure, which helps integrate the interior and outdoor space. The interior space is not merely a flat view but is more like an artwork enveloped by an exquisite framework, waiting for passers-by to explore.
The silver oval art installation hanging in the space not only breaks the fixed, conventional pattern of the space but also injects a futurist feeling into it. The mirror-like surface reflects the surroundings and shows a micro world.
For Various Associates, this project is a new attempt. The studio hopes it breaks the boundaries between cafe and bar, gets intimate with the community via a popular appearance and hence brings people closer together. Through the project, Various Associates explored the possibilities of getting close to the community via design, with a view to conveying the concept “Design is Life”.
With an intimate, simplistic and cabin-like ambience, C2 Cafe & Bar offers a novel destination to the neighbourhood and young urbanites who are living a fast-paced life.
