Coffee shop design appreciation: Beijing Cafe 27 fresh Art Cafe

Shanghai studio Four O Nine transformed a glass building in Beijing into a cafe, adding plant walls to purify polluted air. Influenced by Cafe 27 's organic menu, the designers aim to retool the existing structure, using green and natural materials, to make it an "ecological" building.

"The inspiration for the design comes from the choice of food customers make in the cafe," says the designer."Everything is prepared on site in the cafe's pastry kitchen, using healthy, organic ingredients. We wanted to use an ecologically healthy building to increase people's cravings for healthy food, and we did it all in an ecologically sensitive way.“

Vegetation-covered buildings are often used to improve air quality in polluted cities because plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. Cubic wooden flowerpots are arranged on the inner and outer walls of the cafe. A small room covered with wooden sticks divides the space into a dining area and a kitchen and bathroom. Wooden sticks are also used to create a background behind the white tiled bar. The floor is terrazzo bound tiles to define the seating area. The combination of terrazzo floor and tiled bar creates a gradual rise in warm air flow that elevates space heat in winter.

As part of the renovation, the design also refurbished an adjacent building, adding a new facade, terrace restaurant and whiskey bar on its upper floor. Four O Nine also redesigned the surrounding landscape, adding an outdoor dining garden with benches in front of the cafe.