Adaptable café serves up a simple aesthetic

Project: Saturnbird, Into_the force

Award: Restaurants and cafes, Silver, 2022

Location: Shanghai, China

Design practice: RoarcRenew

Client: Saturnbird

The Saturnbird café has a striking, utilitarian design hidden behind an iron gate. The adaptable furniture system, which includes lamps, fence gates, coffee tables, exhibition stands and adjustable seats made from birch composite board and metal parts, allows the space to be switched in to different modes for different events and exhibitions. Benches can be fold up against walls, while seating can be lifted or lowered and tables can nest together or link up.
Exposed concrete is juxtaposed with tactile materials such as handcrafted cob bricks, terrazzo tiles and cardboard. 

Design highlights

The designers’ commitment to sustainability is reflected in the materials used in the space. There are no decorative materials, only sustainable materials in their very rawest form: red clay brick, terrazzo tiles, carton bricks and sustainable plywood. The concrete walls are unadorned, contributing to a simple and spare aesthetic. The designers followed the Chinese philosophy Tao Teh King: be simple, follow the natural law and be your true self.

Photo credit: RoarcRenew