Jinhui Restaurant, Livat Shanghai
Jinhui is a chain of Chinese restaurants renowned for its innovative fusion cuisine. Working within a controlled budget, the client envisioned a youthful, vibrant spatial experience that retains an authentic, street-food-inspired atmosphere, harmonizing with the culinary theme.
Situated within an open-air commercial plaza atop Livat Shanghai, the site anchors the end of the main commercial axis. The approximately trapezoidal plot draws primary foot traffic from the south, while its striking gabled facade faces west. The design team strategically divided the space into a triangular and a rectangular zone. The southwest-facing triangular zone integrates the main entrance, cashier, and water bar, efficiently handling most service functions. This layout frees the rectangular zone, aligned with the west-facing scenic axis, to create an open, dynamic main dining hall.
Despite the grandeur of the main dining hall, its spatial clarity is challenged by scattered structural columns and overhead mechanical equipment. To address this, the designers wrapped the columns in “piers,” transforming them into spatial anchors. These piers double as service counters, ensuring functional efficiency while concealing structural elements. Visually, they appear to support a vast, slanted roof, establishing a cohesive spatial hierarchy.
The ceiling design maximizes vertical space by aligning closely with the mechanical equipment. After extensive iterations, the final scheme features a slanted roof in the central hall that slopes seamlessly to a height of 2.25 meters. This approach amplifies the perceived volume of the hall, fostering openness and unity, while creating intimate, low-ceilinged alcoves on either side, ideal for cozy booth seating.
The design employs scaffolding as the primary construction material, complemented by plywood, burl wood veneer, and white light diffuser membranes, evoking the raw, vibrant aesthetic of a street-side eatery. The light diffuser membranes, thoughtfully integrated within the scaffolding framework and set apart from the ceiling, create a “room within a room.” This softens the central hall’s scale, fostering a warm, inviting ambiance, while allowing diners to glimpse the exposed framework through gaps or along the membrane’s edges, enhancing the structure’s openness and breathability.
