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Scent of a Golden Age Cafetería by Joye Chuang and Celine Liou

Scent of a Golden Age Cafetería by Joye Chuang and Celine Liou is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2021 A' Design Award de Oro in Diseño de Espacios Interiores y Exposiciones Competition Category.


OroInterior· 2021

Scent of a Golden Age Cafetería

by Joye Chuang and Celine Liou

Client: Nong Mu Design Engineering Company

A' Design Award de Oro Winner in Interior Category

Colors

The Design

About Scent of a Golden Age Cafetería

Aroma de una Época Dorada es una cafetería situada en el distrito de Chihkan, en Tainan. El proyecto consiste en la rehabilitación de una casa-tienda de dos plantas y sesenta años de antigüedad, con una superficie de 158,67 metros cuadrados. El diseño se inspira en la era Showa y en el imaginario de los viejos buenos tiempos. La estructura de acero y el revestimiento de hierro de la casa original se conservan y se depuran. Una carpintería de aire revivalista sostiene la cubierta a dos aguas, que presenta una abertura ovalada que evoca el acceso de una residencia japonesa. El dorado y los tonos otoñales conforman la paleta principal. Una escalera de caracol organiza la circulación junto a la barra.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Oro

Scent of a Golden Age Cafetería ha ganado el A' Design Award de Oro, un reconocimiento inmensamente prestigioso concedido a diseños de primera categoría, maravillosos y sobresalientes. Los ganadores de Oro son creaciones sumamente innovadoras, visionarias y glamorosamente deslumbrantes que reflejan el prodigio, la sabiduría y la destreza de sus diseñadores. Se espera que Scent of a Golden Age Cafetería sea una invención muy elogiada, pionera y monumental que aporta un valor sin precedentes. Este diseño ganador del A' Design Award de Oro es un proyecto espectacular y respetado que beneficia enormemente y hace avanzar las fronteras del arte, la ciencia, el diseño y la tecnología. Scent of a Golden Age Cafetería crea intensos sentimientos de deseo, despierta la pasión, fomenta la creatividad y nos fascina.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

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.
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.
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.
Patents
Copyrights belong to Joye Chuang, 2019.
Team Members
Design Director: Joye Chuang
Interior Stylist: Celine Liou
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.

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