A “Cheesy” Feast Appealing to all Senses: In the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory directed by Tim Burton, we witnessed a journey of imagination full of tasty stimulations. Cheese, with its tiny holes and color of yellow, is comparable to the rich and mellow flavor of chocolate. By choosing this delicacy as the main concept to design “The Dessert KITCHEN“, Towodesign produced chemical reactions among food, visual impression and emotion, and created a unique space that provides fantasy experiences.
Project name: THE DESSERT KITCHEN
Location: B1, REN HE TOWN MALL, Chengdu, China
Category: dessert store
Area: 69 m2
Design firm: Towodesign (www.towodesign.com)
Chief designer: He Mu
Design team: Ren Wei, Sun Meng, Zheng Liyuan
Completion time: November 2018
Main materials: metal, terrazzo, brushed stainless steel
Photography: Towodesign
Shopfront: Signboard? Façade? or Show Window?
The dessert shop is located in the sunken square of a mall, close to its main entrance. From a commercial perspective, it’s necessary to give the store a striking visual impression to attract customers. A large yellow table extends from the outside eating area to the interior, and even up to the shopfront where the logo is set.
The surface of the table is characterized by holes, similar to those of cheese. Customers are flowing elements in this area, making the holes variable, sometimes full, sometimes empty. It’s as if SpongeBob was turned into a huge cheese. The outside eating area, like a sculpture, has a strong sense of existence, becoming a visual highlight on the underground square of the mall. The openings of the table were designed based on functionality, which also encourage people sitting next to each other to interact and chat.
Satisfaction not only for the Stomach, but also for Life
Starting from the fact that people gain life energy from food, Towodesign intended to create a dessert heaven with a church-like interior structure, full of a sense of “ritualism”. Elements of towering domes of churches were applied to the ceiling, which consists of several vaults in line with the trapezoidal plane of the site. Considering the concealment of the air conditioning vent and creation of a visual hierarchy, the ceiling presents a grid-like appearance, which also strengths the rhythm of curves.
The white grid well matches with the yellow backdrop wall, showing a proper balance between order and affinity. Teatime is like a ritual in life, which can be enjoyed in this imaginative church-like space of peace and sweetness. The bar counter also features the elements of cheese, echoing the structural eating area outside. The interior furniture presents round or curved shapes, adding flexibility to the space and enabling the customers to enjoy the feast of visual and gustatory entertainment.
Towodesign is an open team which gathers a group of pioneering designers who are pragmatic and innovative. They are committed to creating impressive space experiences through in-depth study of life, and looking for bright spots that are not easily found in people’s cultural habits. Through art, vision, furniture and space, we create comprehensive and personalized interfaces for brands.
Towodesign
Towodesign focuses on the reconstruction of urban commercial space in the Internet era, and strives to customize brand strategy from different aspects, such as functional composition, cultural combination and terminal integration. For start-up companies, our team creates unique images that are not only in accordance with their characteristics, but are different from their competitors; and for long-established companies, we explore their new transmission values and embed those information into the overall design which takes space as the core. Finally, we realize projects through comprehensive control of details like cost control, engineering implementation, soft outfit configuration, art installation, etc.
He Mu
He Mu is the Co-Founder and Art Director of Towodesign. He was graduated from China Academy of Art and studied in NABA-Nouva accademia di belle Arti Milano in Italy. With many years of experience in comprehensive design fields, he has distinctive interpretations and expressions of brands and spaces. He is good at integrating designs among parametric digital design, art installation and commercial brand communication.
He is a senior space designer, exhibition planner and designer, and furniture designer. He was awarded “40 Under 40 Chinese Young Design Elite “, and his works has won Best of Year (BOY) Awards, Restaurant & Bar Design Award, Jintang Prize – Design of Best Commercial Value, Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards for Elites – Gold Award and Design for Sitting Competition – Grand Prize, as well as listed in ASIA-PACIFIC DESIGN and CHINA INTERIOR DESIGN ANNUAL.
Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Towodesign. She was graduated from China Academy of Art. She has been engaged in different design works for many years, such as brand creativity and planning, exhibition design, interior design, soft decoration and graphic designs. She is good at the overall packaging and promotion of brand.
