Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2020
ERC Cafe Commercial Space
by Ya Wun Yang and Yun Fang Huang
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: Homker Design Co.,Ltd.
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 19,925
- Verification code 1F7C26B792 · Verify this award
About ERC Cafe Commercial Space
ERC Cafe is a cafe interior design covering 218 square meters over two levels. The layout includes a front entrance, a counter, a kitchen, and seating areas with sofas, bar seats, a community table and standard coffee tables. Red brick, metal work, grinding stone, glass, timber and mineral paint give the space a loft character. Fabric is cut into segments and hung from the ceiling in arch shapes, which soften the hard surfaces and diffuse light and air. The double height entrance and the full height windows open the interior to the street and recall a greenhouse.
Within the evolving discourse of contemporary hospitality design, Yang, Ya Wun and Huang, Yun Fang's ERC Cafe Commercial Space emerges as a compelling meditation on the intersection of organic form and constructed environment, demonstrating how thoughtful spatial choreography can transform commercial necessity into experiential poetry. The designers appear to have drawn inspiration from natural phenomena, perhaps the stratified formations of sedimentary rock or the gentle undulations of sand dunes shaped by wind, translating these observations into an architectural ceiling treatment that defies the typical flatness of retail interiors. This biomorphic approach aligns with broader movements in contemporary design that seek to reconnect urban dwellers with natural rhythms and forms, suggesting affinities with the organic modernism pioneered by architects who understood buildings as living systems rather than static containers. The technical achievement of the ceiling installation demonstrates considerable craft, with each horizontal ridge maintaining consistent depth while the overall surface curves and flows to create dynamic shadow play as lighting conditions shift throughout the day. The inclusion of living plant material arranged on illuminated horizontal bands introduces genuine biological presence, allowing the space to breathe and evolve seasonally while providing visual warmth against the cool cement surfaces. The abstracted branch-like vertical elements serve multiple functions simultaneously: they define spatial boundaries without creating visual barriers, they echo the organic ceiling language in skeletal form, and they provide armatures for the pendant lighting system that creates intimate zones within the larger volume. Visitors might contemplate how this environment suggests both cave and forest, shelter and openness, finding in its layered complexities an invitation to linger and reflect.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- In this Loft styled cafe, it was filled with classic elements such as red bricks, metal work, cement finished surfaces, etc., along with an outstanding design feature of fabric. As the design team believed that this cafe has a wide range of consumer segments which warranted a free flowing and soft texture fabric to soften up such rustic and hard spatiality with a feminine touch.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The design area of the two levels is of 218 square meters in total, mainly comprised of front entrance, counter, kitchen, and seating areas such as sofa area, bar stool area, community table, and normal coffee table area, etc.
- Tags
- Fabric, Light and Shadow, Screen, Flowing, Greenhouse, Cafe Design
- Production Technology
- Fabric, Metal Work, Vintage Red Tiles, Grinding Stone, Glass, Timber, Mineral Paint
- Design Challenge
- As much fabric was used in the space, on one hand, the replacement of fabric in maintenance shall be considered, and on the other hand, the fabric shall be hung in seemingly effortless fashion so as to articulate the envisaged arch shape, which also led to its installation technique that was also challenging.
- Project Duration
- The project was finished in February, 2019 in New Taipei City, Taiwan.
- Operation Flow
- In terms of spatial layout, it was about expanding the double ceiling height area at the building entrance, which increased the vertical spatial connection with transparent spatial quality, and the kitchen was moved to the same side as the counter so as to create a more functional and flowing working circulation, as the original kitchen was designated as a shared seating area with unobstructed window view out.
- Research
- In echoing with the unique styling of the architectural form of the building, as well as the tree plantation on the street, the spatial planning anchored on theme of infusion into the building while accentuating the serenity of cafe. In material selection, the solid and robust metal work was complemented by soft and translucent fabric material, as well as by the authentic red brick wall, for a balanced spatial quality.
In referencing the formal vocabulary of greenhouse arch, fabric was cut into segments and hung from the ceiling as light and air diffuser, as well as serving as spatial demarcation in an ever changing forest environment. - Inspiration
- As this Cafe must echo the creative aspiration of Infusion of red brick wall and plant, as well as new visuals, as requested by the client, along with its corner location and curtain wall glass windows, the design of the overall space was anchored on a greenhouse filled with trees, wind, light, i.e. a domain of enriched dynamic visual experiences.
- Image Credits
- Sam Siew Shien, 2019