Friendship Market

Hangzhou, China

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Friendship Market

Hangzhou, China

Firm

DPAA Design

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Bar/Nightclub

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2024

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET

$100K - 500K

Friendship Market: A Design Statement

Friendship Market is a craft beer bar designed to embody a relaxed and approachable atmosphere. It’s located in the heart of Hangzhou’s historic downtown—Zhongshan North Road. As one of the city’s most iconic and enduring streets, this area has witnessed over a thousand years of urban evolution and remains deeply familiar to every Hangzhou local. From the beginning, both our team and the client shared a mutual appreciation for the site’s unique context. Our research revealed that, unlike many areas reshaped by waves of urban redevelopment, this street has remained unchanged in width—a rare quality that preserves a human-scale environment and a tapestry of everyday urban life.

Design begins with the everyday…

Reflecting on the Everyday, Disrupting the Everyday

Friendship Market is envisioned as a neighborhood bar—a casual social hub that supports spontaneous, communal interaction. Unlike personal, solitary routines, such a space calls for a collective daily rhythm, one that fosters connection and openness. We believe commercial spaces should aspire to longevity—not just through utility, but by nurturing cultural and human vitality. These are places where conversations happen, where culture is created, where social life emerges organically. To enable this, we sought a form that is both appropriate and radical—one that sparks shared experiences, art, culture, and dialogue.

Questioning the Everyday, Challenging the Everyday

The everyday, in its most mundane form, can become a threat to commercial vitality. When daily routines dull the senses, they risk turning a space into something forgettable—uninspired, stagnant, resigned. This is the quiet crisis of many businesses. Our approach is to remain skeptical of the everyday, to question it—because when left unchecked, it erodes both spatial energy and social dynamism.

Resisting the Ordinary, Opposing the Passive

In both design and operation, we aim to remain alert—to actively push back against the complacency that can settle in with routine. A passive space is an uninspired one. We want a place that stays alive in the present.

Transcending the Everyday Through the Everyday

We are deeply familiar with daily life. It brings comfort and approachability. It relaxes people and encourages connection. That’s exactly why we’re drawn to it. The everyday tells stories—it reflects lived experiences. At Friendship Market, we want to harness this familiarity and use ordinary elements to shape a space that feels extraordinary, yet still warm and inviting.

The space itself is modest—just 70 square meters—but we split it into two contrasting zones. The first opens up to the street, blending seamlessly into the neighborhood and creating a sense of ease and belonging. The second space is more inward, with a lowered ceiling and subtle interventions that extend the outdoor feeling indoors. The two areas interact visually and emotionally, forming a duality of shared space with differing sensations.

In terms of scale, the outer space is generous and open. Inside, we opted for a smaller, more intimate layout. A low bar counter, just 20 cm wide, creates a close connection between guests and bartenders. The aisle between the bar and seating area is kept narrow—about 40 cm—to encourage proximity and a tactile sense of interaction.

In this project, the everyday was both our subject and our material. We layered familiar objects, gestures, and spatial cues to design a place that resists the monotony of daily life while still celebrating it. The result is a design that aims to transcend the everyday—by starting right from its center.

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Friendship Market

Hangzhou, China

Friendship Market

Hangzhou, China

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team