Le coq wine & Bistro in Hangzhou Tower has an excellent location facing the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
We consider each space itself has unique attributes, like different glasses filling with various types of wines.
While a toast, the banging of three glasses naturally creates three different 'waves' following the internal shapes of each one.
We want to capture that moment and adapt it to this unique space.
The First Wave "Maximize the Space Area”
To break the space limitation, we expanded the display cabinet behind the bar, the most eye-catching and most significant wine cabinet in the space. The wave as the background display cabinet extends up to the ceiling and beyond the door and naturally become an outdoor canopy. This method expands the original 3.5 meters in depth to 6 meters, which changes the narrowness of the environment and expands the space to 6 meters. At the same time, it blurs the boundaries between indoor and outdoor and increases customers' demand for seats in the whole store.
The Second Wave "The Time Tunnel"
The metal-shaped vaulted ceiling and the long green bench combine and become an independent
space as the irregular curves in the arch, like layers of waves, stacked up. It integrates with the
ingenious refraction of lights and mirrors is like a beautiful time-space tunnel. The squares that are
asymptotically enlarged from right to left also shoulder the responsibility of a small wine cabinet,
increasing the exciting experience of travelling through it. It is the end of the tunnel, but it seems to be the starting point of connecting the stairs to the second floor.
The Third Wave "Twisted"
We have designed the third 'wave' as one installation art hanging in the ceiling - one whole metal piece twisted naturally like the shape of liquid's collision to bring a focus point. The large brown metal sheet seems to twist and turn like a wave, like the repeated wine-shaking patterns in a glass after knocking a cup. The metal device was suspended from the ceiling set up, providing lighting at one end of the part. After that, it became another spot in the space.
◆Site Constraints / The Limitations of Reality Space Were Already Forgotten
The site is composed of two upper and lower floors at the diagonal corner of the building. The actual width of the existing space is 18 meters, but the depth of space is only 3.5 meters. The entire visual sense is like a long corridor when people first walked into the project site. It has become the most critical challenge for this project. Designers should consider solving the limitations of existing space through design methodology so that customers do not feel that they are dining and drinking in a corridor.
The bar is separated from the kitchen located on the second floor. It allows to place the bar at the visual Centre of the whole restaurant on the ground floor and maximize the bar's display and the flow of functions. We decided to use sliding doors to open the entire façade. It allows the bar to become an internal and external linkage.
In addition, designers also installed sliding doors on the ground and second floors to replace the general swing doors. The sliding door on the ground floor expands the extensibility between indoor and outdoor. While the sliding door on the second-floor guides customers to the VIP private room, using the sliding function flexibly to maintain privacy and display the richness of tasks while not affecting the size of the actual use area at the same time. The overall vision can weaken the sense of regional boundaries
◆Material & Function /
However, when facing the problem of cramped spaces, in addition to improving the customer's
experience in the use of space, the design would also satisfy as much wine storage space as possible.
For example, the first two "waves" are the large and small wine cabinets, and all the flat and facade are directed towards combining function and storage and displaying wine bottles.
To conform to the tone and style of the brand, designers used a lot of dark (warm) grey wood veneer and dark leather and fabric as the main color scheme. The aim is not only to achieve a relaxed and comfortable environment effect but also to present a calm and textured atmosphere.
To achieve a comfortable feeling and no-repeat vision on the ground floor, designers use dark grey
water corrugated stainless steel and brown hand-knocking stainless steel in the ceiling to achieve the visual effect of ripples, supplemented by the three "waves" are independent but connected. Designers boldly use the disordered method to present the light in the squares of the wine cabinet, and the random grey round mirror duplicates and superimposes the light, which visually restores the picture of sunlight sprinkled on the water surface artistically. The sparkling waves are also like the sparkling character of the wine in a wine glass. Let people be in it and pull away from it.
Grey bricks used on the two floors with random patterns guide customers to each VIP room floor, with full openable sliding doors. The grey bricks are recombined according to different angles and directions, like the water "flow", appearing in a specific spatial position. The upper and lower spaces are linked with the material level to unintentionally form an engaging visual guide. Full-height cabinets for glasses on the brick wall are convenient to store and display simultaneously.