Lilico coffee
From Reception Tea House to Coffee Pavilion
Lilico COFFEE sits on the east side of Guizuiyong, Huangma Village, Huangpu District, Guangzhou. This spot marks the main trailhead of the renowned Huangma Hiking Route, where many visitors set off on their outdoor journeys during holidays. The space was originally a reception tea house. With a change in commercial function, we were invited to transform it into a waypoint-style coffee pavilion — a place for hikers to rest and take in the view.
Light Intervention in a Light Architecture
The original building is defined by lightness — a floating roof and a delicate structure. So we carried that quality over into our spatial strategy: respecting the existing relationship between building and site, inserting new functional volumes as lightly as possible, and allowing old and new forms to merge naturally.
Plug-ins and Forms
The new program brought with it new functional demands. The existing volume is light, and the view is expansive. So the key challenge became: how to tuck in support spaces (electrical room, storage, etc.) without compromising sightlines.
The brand concept offered a spark of inspiration — Lilico COFFEE is like an asteroid that landed on the grass. So we let the support spaces grow along the building's "orbit," forming a ring of ancillary zones with different characters. They not only serve daily operations but also give rise to a new spatial language.
