L&M Design Lab Adds a Bubble Tea Bar to This Office in China

2021 Best of Year winner for Creative Office

Corporate offices can be utilitarian, the focus being on maximizing productivity, leaving little room for aesthetic flair. But that isn’t the case for the 19,000-square-foot headquarters of Hanghzhou Qingmo by Shanghai-based L&M Design Lab. Led by architect Liu Jinrui, L&M conceived an out-of-this world workplace with an array of innovative touches, namely what Jinrui calls “a UFO in the office.” He’s referring to an installation of mirror-finished stainless steel that starts at the entry’s elevator bay and continues inside to connect various functions, increasing possiblities for staff interaction, its sweeping form simulating the brushstrokes of calligraphy. Embedded in the device is a full-service Motea bubble tea bar, which faces bays of workstations as well as the office’s collaboration zone and model display area. In addition, the silvery intervention squeezes out a “crack” for what Jinrui calls a padded “peek-a-boo space,” where an employee can hide, err, take a break. This being Hangzhou, which some consider China’s Silicon Valley, there’s also a table tennis room.

L&M Design Lab: Liu Jinrui; Zou Mingxi; Li Jiayan; Li Weihui; Lai Wuyi; Cheng Miao; Li Chunyao; Liu Huidong; Yuan Ming; Guan Haoting