UNiUNi Café

Uniuni Coffee has opened their new shop in Nanjing designed by dongqi Architects. Uniuni team earns high reputation in WBC(World Barista Championship) and has been dedicating to coffee retailing and coffee culture preaching.

On the basis of understanding the key spirit of Uniuni culture, dongqi team develops the idea of “stage and back-stage”. The curved bar counters are set like the stages ,by the side of which the baristas brew the coffee while the customers watch the process of making from every corner of the space just like the audience. Therefore, the boundary between stage and back-stage is blurred. Different functions are mixed and reorganized. The experience of buying, tasting and making can take place simultaneously in any of the four counters of the space.

The bar tables are hung over to the ceiling by using stainless steel tubes, connecting each other by hinge joints. The vertical steel tubes are connected two by two by hinging with horizontal steel tubes at a 3-meter height above the ground. The horizontal steel tubes, sprayed red and fitted with spot lights, help to integrate and stabilize the whole structure. The shelves are also hung over by steel tubes. The facilities, machines and fridges are all hung to the table top by using L-shaped steel bars. Water supplies down from the ceiling and drains up by using pumps through steel tubes. Everything is hung to the ceiling even including power strips. The exposed pipes,wires and equipments enhance the experience of the “back-stage” concept.

The spray rinsers, the knock boxes and the cup dispensers are customized, welded and polished to join with the stainless steel table top as a whole. The glass cup covers are designed to be slightly embedded in the selves. The sides of the bar tables are 45°tilted inwards in order to be perceived light and floated. Translucent polycarbonate sheets are used as the front side material of storage shelves, sealed the edges by the slotted plywood shelves and the stainless steel sheets. The hinge joint steel pieces are welded to the table from below in order to hide the weld seam.

Curved steel sheets and clear glass are the main elements of the façade. Red LED lights permeate from gradient patterns of the steel sheets, casting fading away shadows on the white steel panels and the top. The narrow red steel frame outlines the main entrance door, echoing the elegant, exquisite while moderate attitude of design and the brand spirit.

Project name: UNiUNi Café
Architect Firm: dongqi Architects
Team: JIANG Nan, Yiting Ma
Design: Feb, 2018
Completion: May, 2017
Area: 70m2
Photography: Raitt Liu