Chubby Woman noodle bar in Beijing takes cues from the panorama of south-west China

The stepped terrazzo ground, strip lighting and foggy mirrored partitions inside this Beijing noodle bar designed by Workplace AIO are supposed to mimic the city make-up of town of Chongqing.

Chubby Woman is located in Beijing’s Xiang’Er hutong and, since 2015, has been locals’ go-to spot for Chongqing noodles – a spicy avenue meals dish that hails from town of Chongqing in south-west China.

When Workplace AIO was approached to overtake the restaurant, it was initially hesitant to make main aesthetic modifications to the inside that loyal diners had grown accustomed to.

The studio ended up designing a fit-out knowledgeable by the panorama of Chongqing, nodding to each Chubby Woman’s menu and the historical past of the restaurant – the primary department opened in Chongqing in 1998.

A key level of reference was the work of photographers Nadav Kander, Mark Horn and Tim Franco, who’ve all captured photographs of Chongqing’s dense city cloth, towering industrial buildings and twinkling evening skyline.

“We additionally explored concepts surrounding Chongqing’s bodily and cultural traits,” defined the studio.

“From its distinctive panorama and local weather, to its ‘concrete jungle’ look and the inhabitants’ capability to adapt to fast urbanisation, in addition to the newer growth of it changing into certainly one of China’s most vibrant incubators of avenue artwork and music.”

After rearranging a couple of structural columns, the studio divided Chubby Woman’s 150-square-metre ground plan into three sections.

There’s a 55-square-metre kitchen which runs your entire width of the restaurant’s rear wall, a 15-square-metre prep space devoted to creating drinks and desserts, and an 80-square-metre eating space.

All through runs a collection of chunky gray terrazzo plinths inlaid with white combination, all set at barely totally different heights. Collectively they’re meant to replicate the sharp rises and falls of Chongqing’s terrain, which is intersected by numerous rivers and mountains.

A mushy glow has been made to emanate from beneath the plinths and a community of strip lights have been put in throughout the ceiling in reference to metropolis nightscapes.

The identical terrazzo utilized throughout the ground has been used to create a collection of communal tables. Each is surrounded by fold-out chairs, in any other case often called mǎzhá, which the studio chosen for his or her resemblance to these usually seen outdoors Chinese language meals stalls.

Surrounding partitions have been clad with panels of smoky glass – as if touched by metropolis fumes – and crimson acrylic slips denoting meals on Chubby Woman’s menu been suspended from the ceiling on lengthy metallic hooks.

“This type of menu is definitely quite common for street-food kiosks and informal meals institutions, however its often made out of picket panels as its a fabric that is straightforward to supply and manipulate,” the studio’s co-founder, Isabelle Solar, informed Dezeen.

Learn and Relaxation Resort in Beijing features a library devoted to print magazines

“The dishes provided by the eating places are written on these boards, and when offered out, the boards can be flipped round to display its unavailability,” she continued.

“Each the Chongqing and Beijing Chubby Woman noodle bars had their menu displayed on this trend, and we thought it will be solely acceptable to maintain this acquainted aspect – reinterpreting them utilizing thick translucent acrylic boards provides a contact of playfulness.”

Chubby Woman takes over a part of a grey-brick constructing in Xiang’Er that Workplace AIO lately transformed into the Learn and Relaxation Resort.

Inside, the lodge has a collection of minimalist visitor suites decked out in calming shades of gray and a complete library stuffed with modern print magazines.

The studio was based in 2014 by Tim Kwan and Isabelle Solar, who will each be on the judging panel of this 12 months’s Dezeen Awards.