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Zhao Yunhai's Pu Tang Restaurant unfolds as an architectural meditation on luminosity and craftsmanship, where the eye is immediately captured by the elaborate coffered ceiling system constructed enti
Zhao Yunhai's Restaurant presents an interior courtyard sanctuary where architectural elements orchestrate a meditation on spatial porosity and material layering, establishing vertical penetration thr
Zhao Yunhai's Restaurant interior establishes its formal presence through a commanding octagonal coffered ceiling structure executed in richly stained hardwood, likely mahogany or dark walnut given th
Zhao Yunhai's Restaurant demonstrates commanding mastery of neoclassical interior architecture translated into contemporary hospitality design, where ivory-toned architectural millwork establishes the
Zhao Yunhai's Restaurant emerges from the urban fabric as a carefully choreographed interplay between opacity and transparency, mass and void, establishing a compositional dialogue rooted in contempor

Yunhai Zhao

Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2025

Pu Tang Restaurant

by Yunhai Zhao

  • A' Design Award 2025 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
  • Awarded April 15, 2025
  • CLIENT: Yunhai Zhao
  • Estimated Number of Design Views: 116,672
  • Verification code 5135CCE159 · Verify this award
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About Pu Tang Restaurant

Pu Tang is a restaurant interior in Nanjing, China, covering an area of 1284 square meters. The layout includes seven private rooms and one tea room, each based on a theme drawn from literati symbols such as plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. The central floor slab of the building was removed to form an inner courtyard for plants and to bring daylight into each room. A visual corridor introduces garden views, while stones, water, moss and fern create a natural landscape. Natural marble and wood panelling are used.

Zhao Yunhai's Pu Tang Restaurant emerges as a distinguished contribution to contemporary hospitality design, demonstrating remarkable sensitivity to the intersection of traditional craft heritage and modern spatial requirements. The work positions itself within a lineage of interior environments that honor material authenticity and artisanal construction while addressing the functional demands of elevated dining experiences, suggesting affinities with the contemplative spatial philosophies found in classical pavilion architecture and scholarly retreat traditions. The technical accomplishment evidenced in the elaborate timber lattice ceiling system deserves particular attention, where hundreds of carefully milled wooden slats are organized into a modular coffered grid that serves simultaneously as acoustic treatment, lighting diffuser, and decorative element of profound visual richness. The chromatic restraint demonstrated throughout the space, limiting the palette primarily to variations of warm wood tones against neutral stone and fabric, creates a unified atmospheric envelope that appears to embrace guests within its golden luminosity. Thematic content suggests meditation on hospitality as ceremony, where the circular table configuration invites communal gathering while the enveloping screens provide necessary intimacy and acoustic separation. The iconographic presence of traditional ceramic vessels displayed in illuminated niches evokes collecting traditions and scholarly appreciation of heritage objects, while the pristine white orchid centerpiece introduces organic vitality and refined elegance. One might consider how this spatial composition transforms the act of dining into a contemplative experience, where architectural enclosure becomes a form of hospitality itself.

Press Kit

Unique Properties
Etiquette takes the lead in the preface hall, which is the centerpiece of the banquet. It's clear that the host's tone is important in determining the importance of etiquette, especially if the festivities are simple and bright. The central floor slab of the building was removed during renovations in order to divide the original building scale,create an inner courtyard for plant growth, and introduce sunlight that increased the lighting of each room.
Dimensions & Packaging
This project covers an area of 1284 square meters.
Tags
Ecology, Green plants, the values of local culture, Restaurant, Interior Space
Production Technology
Sustainable landscape design,Natural marble,Wood panelling
Design Challenge
The central floor slab of the building was removed during renovations in order to divide the original building scale, create an inner courtyard for plant growth. The changes of spatial scale and the integration of multiple spaces both contribute to the flexibility and depth of the whole space. Not only does it maximize the utilization rate of the space,but it also presents the best artistic effect.
Project Duration
The project was opened in nanjing,China in March 2024.124-a11 Hengshan Road,Jianye District,Nanjing,China
Operation Flow
With seven private rooms and one tea room, the entire restaurant is designed with seven different themes representing the spiritual totems of the literati:plums,orchids,bamboo,chrysanthemums,etc.A very elegant space layout is also evident,with independent visual,acoustic,olfactory,and sensory zones.
Research
Small though it is, the project presents boundless landscape experience within limited space. As a result of respecting nature, the project has fully explored the values of local culture and ecology, making the artificial landscapes in perfect harmony with nature.
Inspiration
By designing a visual corridor, the design team introduces nature views into the site. In the meanwhile, ecological stones and waters as well as moss and fern are planted to presenting a natural landscape. Nature penetrates into buildings and landscapes, creating an art gallery in the nature.
Image Credits
Image #1:Photographer YunHai Zhao,Designer,2024.
Image #2:Photographer YunHai Zhao,Designer,2024.
Image #3:Photographer YunHai Zhao,Designer,2024.
Image #4:Photographer YunHai Zhao,Designer,2024.
Image #5:Photographer YunHai Zhao,Designer,2024.
Patents
Copyrights belong to Yunhai Zhao

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