SLOW Architects

This small building is the show area of Vanke during the World Horticultural Exposition 2014 in Tsingdao. It will be used as a cafeteria serving the game area beside it. The café adopts a semi-open form as a respondence to the outdoor game area that makes it more accessible as well as creating an internal café space. Besides normal tables and seats, the café provides informal seats facing the game area that allow people to enjoy a coffee during game breaks.

Four hyperboloidal roofs supported by Douglas fir columns and beams present the tectonic beauty of wood construction, and at the same time look very light as if the café could fly with wind. Some of the walls are made of waste wood pieces produced during the construction to create a sense of casuallity while making full use of material.

Along with design in the way how people use the space and architectural form, we also tried to carry out the idea of environment-friendly and sustainable construction. Different from concrete, trees absorb carbon during their growth that makes the building a low-carbon construction to the largest extent. Wood construction uses typically pre-fabricated assemblies so that it has the benefit of controlled factory conditions, less dependence on on-site labour and less impact on environment. As a temporary building, most assemblies and material can be recycled. Actually Vanke is planning to move the building into their other project after the Expo. We hope that this small café could allow people to sense the beauty of sustainable wood building while providing them a place to relax.