Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2020
Sui Han San You Restaurant
by Hui Ye
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: Ye Hui
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 21,005
- Verification code B2A26CF0E4 · Verify this award
About Sui Han San You Restaurant
Sui Han San You is a restaurant interior of about 1200 square meters set across two floors. The design draws on Tang dynasty architecture, which combines strength and beauty with a balance between rigor and magnificence. Wooden beams and columns form the spatial framework, and walnut columns are arranged along the sides and linked to the ceiling. At the entrance, a walnut column rises from a waterscape and meets a desk surface to form the reception counter. Austere materials and modern techniques reshape the beauty of the interior structure.
Hui Ye's Sui Han San You Restaurant exemplifies a contemporary synthesis of traditional East Asian spatial philosophies with rigorously minimal architectural vocabulary, creating an environment where material restraint and luminous orchestration produce profound atmospheric resonance. The designer appears to engage deeply with the cultural concept embedded in the establishment's name—referencing the three friends of winter (pine, bamboo, and plum) celebrated in classical poetry for their endurance through adversity—translating this literary heritage into an architectural language of vertical timber elements that evoke bamboo groves while the precious pagoda object introduces associations with venerable cultural forms. The technical accomplishment reveals itself in the calibrated spacing of battens that function simultaneously as spatial membrane, light filter, and acoustic diffuser, demonstrating sophisticated understanding of how repetitive elements at consistent intervals create meditative visual rhythm while permitting controlled permeability between zones. The interplay between the warm copper-toned column and the surrounding cool graphite palette establishes material dialogue between precious and humble, singular and multiple, vertical punctuation and horizontal extension. Light operates as active design material here, the diagonal shaft creating temporal specificity—this particular moment captured becomes unrepeatable as solar angles shift—while the mirrored floor amplifies luminosity and extends perceived volume. One might consider how this space balances the ceremonial weight appropriate to dining ritual with the understated elegance that invites contemplation, how the singular golden pagoda anchors cultural meaning without overwhelming the spatial experience with decorative accumulation.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Architectures in Tang dynasty are characterized by perfect integration of strength and beauty as well as balance between rigor and magnificence. Such features were incorporated into the design, where walnut columns were orderly arranged at the sides and linked to the ceiling. Designers adopted a minimalist style to interpret the mutual complementation between the parts and the whole. The design team used modern techniques and expressions to reshape the beauty of interior structures.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Area: about 1200 sqm
Category: Restaurant - Tags
- Upscale home cuisine restaurant, Tang-style spatial structure, classical, modern techniques, elegance, sense of structure
- Production Technology
- 1. At the entrance, a walnut column rises out from the waterscape, supporting the ceiling. Besides, it is connected with a desk surface, together constituting a geometric shape and functioning as a reception desk in the foyer.
2. In the reception area at the lobby, the designers added a wooden structure to the high ceiling, so as to lower the height of this area, eliminate the sense of distance from guests, and achieve the harmony and contrast of spatial proportions. - Design Challenge
- The client request to add an elevator to the two-storey space for the convenience of those with mobility problems, which was a great challenge.
To create space for the elevator pit, the designers lifted the ground level on the elevator area. To deal with the elevation difference between this area and other areas on 1F, the design team created a slope that extends from the entrance, functioning as a transitional space. Coupled with waterscape, the slope offers a sense of formality and mystery. - Project Duration
- Project Duration: from 20/4/2018 to 1/1/2019
- Operation Flow
- It's a two-storey space, with a high ceiling on the first floor, which is a great advantage. The designers adopted Tang-style wooden structures, beams and columns to construct the architectural framework, and utilized austere materials to create magnificent elegance within the space. Tang-style was incorporated into the design, the designers used modern techniques and expressions to reshape the beauty of interior structures.
- Research
- It's a two-storey space, which was set up by three friends. The design team used modern techniques and expressions to reshape the beauty of interior structures.
JINGU PHOENIX adopted Tang-style wooden structures, beams and columns to construct the architectural framework, and utilized austere materials to create a magnificent elegance within the space. - Inspiration
- In Chinese culture, pine, bamboo and plum blossom are known as "Sui Han San You (Three Friends of Winter)". Coincidentally, the restaurant was set up by three friends, so it was named as "Sui Han San You". This is the backdrop.
To echo with the restaurant's artistic and elegant name, the designers intended to adopt Tang-style wooden structures, beams and columns to construct the spatial framework,and utilize austere materials to create magnificent elegance in the two-storey space. - Image Credits
- Photography: Yinxiang Arch Photography