B131 Café
Geometric Order and Lightweight Structure
B131 Café is a small, freestanding coffee shop located within the BAC Art Community in Hangzhou, China, serving as a complementary facility to the adjacent Brita131 Art Museum. The project responds to the site through a clear geometric order and alightweight tectonic approach, creating an independent yet open social space.
Positioned at the eastern end of the northern plaza, the building faces an open square and the distant Xiangshan Mountain to the west, a green buffer zone to the east, and a small wooded area separating it from the urban street to the south. The openness of the site and the surrounding natural elements allow the building to remain discreet within the cityscape while establishing a subtle visual presence.
Form, Structure, and Spatial Experience
The design strategy is based on a fundamental geometric form: a square plan generating a clear volumetric presence. A lightweight steel structure frames the building, wrapped in anodized aluminum panels to achieve a sense of lightness and translucency. At night, the building glows softly, becoming a warm landmark within the site.
The structural frame consists of 12 columns and a secondary beam grid system. The columns are not only structural elements but also spatial devices that define seating areas and guide circulation. A square skylight above the central core introduces natural light, allowing the shifting daylight to shape the interior atmosphere over time.
The interior walls are clad in timber, enhancing a sense of enclosure and providing a sheltering quality within the urban context. The bar is positioned at the center of the space, illuminated from above, turning the interaction between baristas and visitors into part of the spatial narrative.
Constructing Viewing Perspectives
The design of openings is deliberately restrained, intervening only where necessary to construct precise viewing frames:
+The west elevation opens toward the plaza and Xiangshan Mountain with a full-height operable window system. In warm weather, the windows can be fully opened to dissolve the boundary between inside and outside. At dusk, the silhouette of the distant mountain ridge becomes a living backdrop.
+The north elevation features a narrow horizontal slit, framing glimpses of the street beyond the trees. Passersby can catch subtle views into the interior, evoking curiosity and a sense of discovery.
These carefully positioned openings maintain a sense of enclosure while fostering nuanced connections with the surrounding environment.
A Quiet Refuge within the City
Beyond serving as an annex to the art museum, B131 Café acts as a quiet micro-refuge in the urban landscape. Its form is simple, its construction is lightweight, and its scale and materiality are meticulously controlled. Through precise manipulation of structure, light, and materials, the project offers a place for pause, social interaction, and observation—a temporary retreat for city dwellers seeking a moment of tranquility.
