February 3, 2023

A U-Shaped Counter Adds Seating and Visual Intrigue in This Dining Destination

2022 Best of Year Winner for International Fine Dining

After knocking through two shopping-mall stores in Shenzhen to create a 3,000-square-foot site for Japanese restaurant Biiird Yakitori, the young cofounders of bigER Club, Cheuk Chun Yung and Huang Yuan, were expecting to find ample open space. Instead, what they saw was a column smack dab in the middle of the room. To mastermind the best flow with the greatest number of bar seats, they wrapped a U-shape countertop around a red-brick form shaped like a towering tornado. Inside the flared-masonry intervention is the kitchen and the aforementioned awkward column, while the outer perimeter, between bar and brick, becomes circulation for servers.

the concrete exterior of a Japanese restaurant

a u-shaped brick counter at a bar with green bar stools

PROJECT TEAM

Biger Club Design: Cheuk Chun Yung; Huang Yuan

a lightbulb tilted to the left on an orange and purple background

See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees

Explore must-see projects and products that took home high honors.

2022 WINNERS

Projects
Biomorphic Forms Define This Restaurant by Ippolito Fleitz Group
This 95-seat restaurant in eastern China embraces nature with biophilic design, including fluid forms and greenery throughout.
Awards
Interior Design’s 2022 Best of Year Award Winners
See Interior Design’s 2022 Best of Year Award winners, representing the best A&D projects and products from across the globe.
Projects
A Hip, New Restaurant Next to MoMA Offers Diners a Feast for the Eyes
For 53, a new restaurant adjoining the MoMA in Midtown, ICrave’s palette tastefully blends Asian customs and contemporary sensibilities.