C+ Architects mingles previous and new inside Restaurant Ya in Beijing

A century-old tree soars up by means of the roof of this restaurant in Beijing, which C+ Architects has decked out with rammed-earth tiles, travertine and timber.

Restaurant Ya is nestled amongst the homes, temples and workplace buildings of the Dafangjia Hutong in Beijing, serving up dishes impressed by the delicacies of China’s Yunnan area.

It beforehand had nondescript white partitions and paved flooring, however C+ Architects needed the brand new inside to higher mirror the streets surrounding the restaurant, the place “previous and new, conventional and trendy coexist”.

The observe first made a focus of the 100-year-old Jujube tree that rises up by means of the restaurant’s roof– the bottom of it had been cluttered with potted crops.

It is now merely enclosed by a sequence of black-framed glazed panels, forming a small courtyard.

One wall of the restaurant has been clad with giant bricks created from rammed earth. It is punctuated with a big opening that accommodates a drinks bar, behind which glassware is displayed on rows of open shelving.

A tough stone column has additionally been erected on the centre of the ground plan, whereas slabs of reddish travertine have been used to line a wall on the alternative facet of the venue.

Different decor components have purposefully been crafted from extra up to date supplies, like blackened metal. This features a secondary V-shaped drinks bar and the higher half of the staircase – the primary few treads are created from concrete.

C+ Architects perches glass restaurant above dramatic mountain panorama

It results in an open-air roof terrace which has been completed with a reflective water characteristic.

Some components of the restaurant are knowledgeable by the Chinese language character “崖” – pronounced as “ya” – which interprets to cliff in English.

For instance, the principle eating house has been sunken beneath floor stage to create a “vertical interplay” between the elevated courtyard and seating space on the restaurant’s rear.

The house can be topped by a skylight in order that, when diners look up, “they’ll really feel the blue sky and white clouds inside simple attain”.

Timber tables and jet-black eating chairs have been dotted all through.

C+ Architects relies in Beijing’s Dongcheng District, and was based in 2014 by Cheng Yanchun and Li Nan.

This is not the one eating house designed by the observe – in 2019 it additionally created Floating Island Restaurant, which cantilevers off a grassy hillside in Chongqing, China.

Images is courtesy of Xu Xiaodong and C+ Architects.

Undertaking credit:

Design agency: C+ Architects

Architect in cost: Cheng Yanchun

Undertaking staff: Xu Liyuan, Tian Yuting, Zhou Qirui, Lee Kang Chan
Secondary design and building of rammed earth wall: Onearth Structure
Structural design: Zhang Jinbin