Layered Waves Of Brick Wow At This Theater Café In China

2024 Best of Year Winner for Commercial Café

Inspired by the island location, One Plus Partnership devised an oceanic scheme for movie theater café, Haikou Gaoxingli Cinema Coffee Bar, albeit without the typical blue focus. Instead, the 11,400-square-foot space in Hainan, China, is defined by red-clay masonry, with undulating, precisely layered waves of brickwork evoking sand dunes on the shoreline—a conceit that’s dramatic in its monochromaticity. Brick courses laid in stack bond rise from the floor, cresting into concave benches and bowed counter-tops. Other forms hang like stalactites from the ceiling. Despite the rugged materiality, the scene is still cozy, with twinkling LEDs tucked into the pre-existing core holes of the bricks and plump custom chairs with rustic-colored upholstery scattered throughout.

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PROJECT TEAM: AJAX LAW; VIRGINIA LUNG.