Bu Er Tavern — Baicai Design

Bu Er Tavern

The project is a renovation and upgrade design for Bu Er Tavern at its original location. Bu Er is a wine tavern that has been operating in Shenyang for eight years, located near the bustling and lively Caita Night Market. Amidst the vibrant environment, it maintains a sense of tranquility.

Project Info:

Status: built, 2024
Area: 37 sqm
Client: Bu Er Tavern
Location: Shenyang
Photography: Topia Vision

The project is situated on the first floor of an old community building along Huiwu Street. Bu Er has been here since its opening, and the owner wishes to continue operating in a small yet refined manner. The most distinctive feature of the original space is its walls, which retain the writings left by guests over the past eight years. These writings include many blessings, messages, and stories. We hope to preserve this layer of memory in the future design, allowing the space to witness, collect, and create memories.

The project covers only 37 square meters and is divided into two rooms, front and back. The design concept for Bu Er Tavern by Baicai Design is: Time Capsule. We hope Bu Er can continue the memories of its eight years of operation and provide healing moments for both new and old customers.

Alcohol serves as the spiritual solace for countless souls, offering joy, forgetfulness, confession, and attraction. The shop has no signboard, subtly blending into the bustling market, aiming to surprise visitors the moment they step in. Bu Er Tavern is a capsule within the city, and the content of the space is the medicine you need.

We have incorporated an installation within the space: the Capsule Shell. We preserved the original walls and the writings on them as part of the space's memory. On this basis, we added a shell using installation techniques. Outside the shell, the original state of the walls remains, making people feel as if they are inside a capsule.

Upon entering the tavern, the front room serves as the bar area, while the back room is a more private seating area with booths. The design extends the curve of the capsule shell, connecting the two different spaces and creating a more layered experience.

We hope this space has an amber-like quality, encapsulating time like the city does. The color tone of the space presents a quiet immersion at midnight, with the small window at the entrance letting in the night, wrapping the night within the capsule and healing everyone.

About

Baicai Design is a multidisciplinary design practice based in New York and Shenyang, working across architecture, interiors, exhibitions, and spatial design. Its practice spans different geographies, scales, and cultural contexts.

Founded by Kaiwen Zhao, Baicai is shaped by his interdisciplinary background in design and architecture. Zhao studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Architecture at the Yale School of Architecture. He currently teaches in the Department of Industrial Design at RISD, and has previously taught at the University of Colorado Denver, lectured at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and served as a guest critic at Syracuse University.

Baicai approaches space beyond the conventional boundaries of interior design, bringing together architectural and product design thinking to address spatial questions. Through different scales of intervention, we explore the relationships between space, objects, and human behavior.

New York:
540 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY, 11201

Shenyang:
A07International Software Park, Shenyang, China

baicaidesignoffice@gmail.com

Awards

FRAME Wellness Space of the year Shortlisted
2026

Paris Design Awards Winner
2026

MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner
2026

Dezeen China Rising Firm of the Year
2025

POSITION Award China Best 100 Young Architect
2024

Guangzhou Design Week 40 Under 40
2024

AD China 100 YOUNG
2022-2024

Architizer Best Young Interior Design Firm Special Mention
2024

Forbes China 30 Under 30
2023

FRAME Small Residential of the year Shortlisted
2023

FRAME Award Best Emerging Designer Nominee
2023

APIDA Design Award Excellence Award
2023

FRAME Pop-up Store of the Year
2022

FRAME Window Display of the Year Shortlisted
2022

WYDF TOP 100 Designer
2022

Dezeen Award Shortlisted
2022

Architecture Masterprize Best of The Bests
2022

AD China 100 YOUNG
2020-2022

Architecture Masterprize Honorable Mention
2022

KUKAN Design Award Shortlisted
2022

DNA Award Winner in Workplace Design
2022

DNA Award Honorable Mention in Workplace Design
2022

DNA Award Honorable Mention in Showroom Design
2022

K-Design Award Winner
2022

Novum Design Award Gold Award
2022

Novum Design Award Silver Award
2022

IDA Design Award Honorable Mention
2022

FRAME Best of the Month
2022 April

Design for Asia Award Bronx Award
2021

Design for Asia Award Excellence Award
2021

IDEA Design Award Finalist
2021

Golden Pin Design Award Winner
2021

Golden Pin Design Award Honorable Mention
2022

Press

Baicai Design’s work has received international media coverage across architecture, design, fashion, and culture. The studio has been featured in publications including Gestalten, INTERIORS, AD China, FRAME, Interior Design China, My Home, and id+c, alongside leading global platforms such as Dezeen, Leibal, Architizer, Divisare, Vogue, ELLE China, Yatzer, Cosmopolitan, gooood, Archilovers, Designverse, and Archello.