Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2021
Scent of a Golden Age Coffee Shop
by Joye Chuang and Celine Liou
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Nong Mu Design Engineering Company
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 24,487
- Verification code D1868A4737 · Verify this award
About Scent of a Golden Age Coffee Shop
Scent of a Golden Age is a coffee shop in the Chihkan District of Tainan. The project is a renovation of a sixty-year-old two-story shophouse and covers 158.67 square meters. The design takes cues from the Showa era and from the imagery of the good old days. The steel frame and iron cladding of the old house are retained and refined. Revivalist woodwork supports the pitched roof, which has an oval opening recalling the entrance of a Japanese residence. Gold and autumn colors form the main palette. A spiral staircase organizes the circulation near the bar counter.
Within the contemporary discourse of retail interior design, JOYE CHUANG's Scent of a Golden Age Coffee Shop presents a compelling meditation on cultural memory and artisanal heritage translated into immersive commercial experience. The installation of traditional paper parasols as suspended sculptural elements demonstrates remarkable sensitivity to craft traditions, transforming functional vernacular objects into poetic ceiling compositions that establish immediate atmospheric distinction. The designer's chromatic decisions reveal sophisticated understanding of color psychology and spatial perception, deploying the deep teal accent wall as a grounding element that intensifies the warmth of surrounding materials while providing necessary visual rest within the otherwise golden-toned environment. The spiral staircase, executed in warm brass with elegant railings, serves dual functions as practical circulation connecting retail ground floor to elevated mezzanine and as kinetic sculptural presence that draws the eye through space in continuous flowing movement. Material selections throughout demonstrate commitment to textural authenticity, from the honest expression of polished concrete flooring to the weathered character of stone-like cylindrical pedestals that suggest geological permanence amid ephemeral retail contexts. The wooden louvered screens at the glazed facade mediate between interior intimacy and urban exterior, filtering daylight while maintaining visual connection to street life beyond. Display cabinetry featuring circular apertures establishes formal dialogue with the parasols above, creating unified design language through geometric repetition across scales. One might observe how this interior successfully negotiates the tension between commercial functionality and cultural storytelling, inviting visitors to experience not merely a retail transaction but an encounter with living heritage. What memories or associations might these hovering parasols awaken in those who pause beneath their gentle illumination?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This renovation of a sixty-year-old two-story shophouse into a modern coffee shop in the Chihkan District of Tainan is the sixth franchise store of OH! Café, whose owner once won World Coffee Roasting Champion (WCRC) in 2014. The design team began with the imagery of the "good old days" and took cues from the Showa era to build a flagship store that is worthy of its brand. The traces of begone days and the smell of coffee together makes the space into a warm one.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Total 158.67 square meters.
- Tags
- Coffee, Renovation, Tainan, Japanese, Gold
- Production Technology
- The Showa era gold color and colors of the autumn season constitute the main colors scheme of the project. The spiral staircase optimizes the space and anchors the circulation of the area near the bar counter on the first floor. The streamlined curve of the design connects several things into one gesamtkunstwerk: the encircling concrete cylinders, the fifty-year-old handmade paper umbrellas hanging above, the aromas area in the rear cabinet wall, and the corner of the counter.
- Design Challenge
- The second floor is designed as a mezzanine. To the left is a small Japanese garden with a narrow flagstone path. The millstone fountain suggests the presence of the restrooms. To the right is the raised seating area that looks like a floating pavilion. The scale of Japanese rush mats accommodates both gestures of sitting and lying. Whether or not the curtains are closed, the windows by the streets present an order complex to the old alleyway.
- Project Duration
- The project started in April 2019 in Tainan and finished in June 2019 in Tainan.
- Operation Flow
- The service area at the bar counter accommodates advanced coffee machines, bean grinder, and waiters' uniforms. The colors are restricted to a minimum to facilitate the concentration needs for the professional working area, including the rusticated brown of the counter facade, the quartz stone countertop, and other metal components. Both old and new to create the beloved touches of a Japanese house.
- Research
- The gold paint on the steps of the staircase invokes a sense of Showa-era. An abstract painting of rough sapphire-like texture occupies the wall that spans both floors as if the smoke of coffee bean roasting rising. Outside the glass window is the light of the old yellow lantern, echoing the bamboo lantern inside. The resonance between inside and outside recalls warm memories of bygone days.
- Inspiration
- The steel frame and iron cladding of the old house are transformed into a place with a refined essence of time. The revivalist woodwork supports the pitched roof with an oval opening like the entrance of a Japanese residence. The reinterpretation of an old Japanese house through new imagination.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Sanwen Studio, Scent of a Golden Age, 2019.
Image #2: Photographer Sanwen Studio, Scent of a Golden Age, 2019.
Image #3: Photographer Sanwen Studio, Scent of a Golden Age, 2019.
Image #4: Photographer Sanwen Studio, Scent of a Golden Age, 2019.
Image #5: Photographer Sanwen Studio, Scent of a Golden Age, 2019.
Main image is Image #1, Optional Image #1 is Image #2, Optional Image #2 is Image #3, Optional Image #3 is Image #4, Optional Image #4 is Image #5. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Joye Chuang, 2019.
Colors of Scent of a Golden Age Coffee Shop
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