Cad Coffee Cafes by Yi Zhou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Silver A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Competition Category.
SilverInterior· 2026
Cad Coffee Cafes
by Yi Zhou
Client: Dayi Design
Silver A' Design Award Winner in Interior Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #174342The Design
About Cad Coffee Cafes
Cad Coffee is a cafe interior set within a former cement factory beside a city park in Jiangsu, China. The original reinforced concrete shell and frame were retained, with partial steel reinforcement. Large floor-to-ceiling glass panels bring daylight inside and open the rooms to the parkland. Functional zones are arranged around a central coffee bar and include tiered seating, wooden counters, textile upholstery and multi-functional partitions. Reclaimed wood and coarse fabrics were sourced locally. The space covers 1000 square meters.
The Recognition
About the Silver A' Design Award
Cad Coffee Cafes is a Silver A' Design Award winner, an extraordinarily prestigious recognition granted to top-of-the-line, gorgeous, and impressive designs. Silver winners are tremendously brilliant and exceedingly creative works that illustrate the outstanding expertise, talent, and acuity of their designers. Cad Coffee Cafes is expected to be a wonderful, showpiece work that is remarkably professional and profoundly innovative. This Silver A' Design Award-winning design is a highly notable, admired invention that benefits and advances the boundaries of art, science, design, and technology. Cad Coffee Cafes is a vastly envied creation that evokes desires, introduces positive feelings, and sparks amazement and wonderment.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- This design revitalizes a former cement factory adjacent to a city park into an open, layered coffee space. Retaining the building's raw structural form and historical traces, the renovation introduces expansive glazing, natural lighting, and modular zoning. Functional areas extend around a central coffee bar, meeting diverse social and individual needs. The result is a fluid, quiet retreat that harmonizes industrial memory with organic textures and urban leisure.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The space spans a total of 1000 square meters. Its structural shell uses reinforced concrete, with partial steel frame reinforcement. For fenestration, it features custom French floor-to-ceiling glass panels. Inside, the layout includes tiered seating, integrated wooden counters, textile upholstery, and multi-functional partitions. Natural finishes dominate, paired with curated greenery and art to add spatial layering. Passive ventilation and strategic solar exposure optimize indoor comfort and lighting balance throughout the day.
- Tags
- Interior Design, Adaptive Reuse, Coffee Space, Industrial Renovation, Nature Integration, Minimal Intervention, Spatial Layering, Daylight Design, Cement Factory Conversion, Emotional Design
- Production Technology
- The project employed minimal intervention principles, retaining the original concrete shell and frame. Locally sourced materials such as reclaimed wood and coarse fabrics were prioritized to reduce carbon footprint. Large glass panels and French windows were retrofitted to engage the outdoors, while natural light strategies replaced artificial lighting. Restoration over remodeling guided the process, preserving both structural integrity and aged textures.
- Design Challenge
- The greatest challenge was balancing preservation with intervention honoring the cement factory's raw essence while introducing comfort and adaptability. Regulatory constraints, structural aging, and limited mechanical systems posed technical hurdles. Externally, expectations of renovation equals polish were resisted. The team redefined value as emotional atmosphere over perfection, transforming ruins into a warm, contextual, and shared emotional terrain.
- Research
- This spatial research explores how adaptive reuse and minimalist renovation can provide emotional refuge within urban settings. Using qualitative site observation, user interviews, and behavior mapping, the study evaluated the impact of spatial openness, daylight, and material tactility on visitor well being. Insights informed design decisions promoting detachment from daily stress. The result: a model of micro-escape architecture balancing emotional need with urban reuse.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by the emotional fatigue of modern life, the design reinterprets the act of drinking coffee as a pause from relentless urban rhythms. Drawing on the symbolism of ruins, wilderness, and fragmented time, the space merges a disused industrial shell with lush parkland. The aim is not nostalgia, but to plant a quiet unfamiliar moment a detour in life's fast-moving track where visitors reclaim presence through light, nature, and texture.
- Project Duration
- The project started in February 2024 in Jiangsu, China and finished in June 2024.
- Operation Flow
- The space invites users into a seamless transition from city park to cafe, with natural light guiding circulation. Centralized around the coffee counter, zones for group gatherings, solo reading, or business interaction unfold intuitively. Elevated seating introduces spatial rhythm, while outdoor garden terraces blur boundaries with the landscape. The space adapts to individual paces whether lingering alone or casually socializing within an open, sensory rich environment.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Cong Lin, 2024.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Cong Lin, Cad Coffee, 2024.
Image #2: Photographer Cong Lin, Cad Coffee, 2024.
Image #3: Photographer Cong Lin, Cad Coffee, 2024.
Image #4: Photographer Cong Lin, Cad Coffee, 2024.
Image #5: Photographer Cong Lin, Cad Coffee, 2024.
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