WAY studio releases a dreamlike restaurant in beijing featuring a spherical entrance

aiming to bring dreams into actuality, to design a spatial performance, and to provide a transient surreal experience to all, the beijing-based WAY studio reinterprets the ways to design the most common things in the recently completed restaurant ‘aye to meeting someone’. the place features surrealistic shapes, such as spherical entrance and pink ceiling with a hole.

all images by zeng hao, fernie lai

the spherical entrance to WAY studio’s restaurant, like the rabbit hole of alice in wonderland, crashes into the wall and creates ripples on this divisional boundary between reality and illusion, tearing a portal for visitors to pass through from one realm to the next. the exterior façade is constructed with red brick — in order to create this ‘ripple’ effect, computational scripting was used to design the brick layout, originally intended to couple with mechanical arm construction for accuracy. in the end, a more craftsman method was devised; one-to-one plots of brick positions were printed on 270 rolls of paper, filling a small room. workers laid each brick on top of the printed outlines, literally constructing ‘as drawn’. the façade has become juxtaposition between technology and craftsmanship, linking modernity with tradition.

the open dining space is composed of traditional elements and materials but in a non-traditional way, reminiscent of the jazz age. the infamous architectural symbol, arches, were used but broken down into hung bronze panels and intersected with a cave-like space.

duplex seats at the bar were designed for those that prefer a more intimate setting. the most vital of any building, the bathroom, has been revitalized from a hidden room into an exclusive dressing room and a private stage for your best performance. to the left of the entrance, with curvatures of the floor and wall disturbing the perspective, causing one to question whether you are moving vertically or laterally as you pass through the folds of space and time — a staircase leading to the other world, the second floor, towards the uncertain and the unknown.

the second floor accommodates an open dining space that can also be used for events. here, ceilings are becoming walls, blurring the edge of space; hidden doors open to reveal pink, blue, and red — three private dining rooms, each inviting the visitors to its own fantasy. as one enters the innermost sanctuary, they secretly brush their hands against the soft and furry texture of velvet on the walls, as the walls are growing and gathering towards the light. velvet was tailored for each twisting panel, similar to tailoring a dress. this material was inspired by and chosen due to its signature appearances in classical performance fashion or theatre curtains.

on the south wall, light filtering features were created, translucent but not transparent, allowing light to filter through creating new internal scenery. in this project, WAY studio seduces its audience through the use of space, allowing for new stories to be created every time someone enters and wanders, creating atmospheres to tempt the possibility of making imagination into reality.

project info:

location: beijing, china

type: architecture renovation & interior design

function: restaurant 

time: 2018 completion

building area: 600 sqm

site area: 300 sqm

building height: 9 m

team: zheng tao, fernie lai, wang tao, melody hwang, zeng hao, mark wang, yan weiqi, eagle yin, li xudong, li jiaxin, huang zanning, li yuze, yu sida, fan wei, cao jing

photography: zeng hao, fernie lai

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom