Zhongqiaojiao Restaurant

Luzhou, China

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a tiny jazzy place JAZZMINE serving french dessert in china

Zhongqiaojiao Restaurant

Luzhou, China

Firm

nnm+ architects(有門建築)

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Restaurant

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2024

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

$50K - 100K

The project locates in the Jiangyang Pavilion on the banks of the Tuojiang River in Luzhou. Luzhou, also known as “Jiangyang”, Jiangyang Pavilion belongs to one of the eight scenic spots in Luzhou, famous as the Baijiu city of China, bringing together the literati and elegant people from all over the country. The brand of Zhongqiaojiao originates from Gulin, Luzhou, and relies on the beef specialties catering to spread the culture of Gulin. In the remodeling and updating of the Zhongqiaojiao Restaurant, we use the streets, alleys, roads and bridges, landscapes and humanistic scenes in the old city of Gulin as the clues linking up the space, leading guests to trace the memories of the old city; and we translats the scenes of the Baijiu cellar in the Erlang Mountain of Gulin in modern times, to create an immersive dining and Baijiu fusion experience center.

Memories of Gulin Nostalgia

Zhongqiaojiao Restaurant locates on the second and third floor of Jiangyang Pavilion. The second floor is mainly set up as a large hall for food, with private rooms. With Gulin nostalgia as the theme, the space integrates elements of the old city scene everywhere.

At the entrance of the elevator hall, a handmade brick-veneered arch connects time and space, simulating the bridge arches of Gulin’s landmark “Shengli Bridge”, creating a sense of ceremony of crossing under the bridge and entering the old time of the city. The dining hall is connected by the “main street” with two half-enclosed round-table areas, and the partitions are in the form of piers, which corresponds to the stone piers of the parapet of the “Shengli Bridge”, creating the atmosphere of eating along the bridge in the early years by the river.

The wall of the foyer and the spice table simulates the street scene of Gulin Old Town in the form of collage, and between the old wooden boards and bricks, the old photos of Gulin Old Town can be seen through the wooden windows. On the opposite side of the “Main Street”, the large glass tiles echo the scene of Gulin’s old street, creating a sense of storytelling that blends the ancient and the modern with the correspondence between new contemporary materials and traditional tile roofs. In addition, the interior design of the hall incorporates the elements of traditional Chinese calligraphy and poetry, with a poetry wall and scrolls threaded at both ends of the corridor, a rigid and a soft inheritance of the cultural heritage of Gulin.

At both ends of the hall, there are two triple-celled rooms and independent rooms, which are separated by openable rattan screen doors to serve family or business gatherings. Wave-cut textured paper is used as the ceiling for the triple-celled rooms and the hall, which builds an abstract landscape form through curves, and a slight swaying can be seen when the wind blows, together with the water patterned glass tiles on the side, just like the shimmering light of the Gulin River.

Translation of Baijiu Cellar Scene

Unlike the “Gulin guild hall” on the second floor, which has a friendly and urban style, the positioning of the third floor of the restaurant is more oriented to high-end hospitality and banquets. The design of the whole floor is inspired by the cave scene of the Baijiu cellar in Erlang Mountain of Gulin, with dark arcade tunnels, slightly reflective bamboo charcoal metal plate ceiling, and starry wall lamps with soft diffuse reflective film, brewing up the mysterious charm of the Baijiu culture through the precipitation of time.

Through the layers of arcades, private rooms of different sizes are distributed around the “cave”, and in the center of the space is the Baijiu fusion experience center, which is a change from the traditional form to a bar-style layout, and is available for semi-open-ended experiential activities such as accompanying meals and wine tastings, and dining and new product launches. The wall of the space is a whole lighted Baijiu cabinet, which is in line with the theme of the space to display the collection of Baijiu, and the backing gradient light film depicts the Gulin landscape painting with the artistic lines, which makes the dining here very enjoyable.

The overall space is dominated by crimson color, taking the imagery of Chishui River. The mellowness and calmness of the red color complements the culture of Baijiu, creating an ancient and solemn atmosphere. At the same time, the metal elements and acrylic materials give the space a modern sense, highlighting the generosity of the space.