Fatface Coffee pop-up store

Project

Retail
Cultural
Restaurants and Bar
Cafe and Bakery
Other

Designed by Baicai, the Fatface Coffee pop-up store is located within the WINDOW Gallery space in Shenyang and runs for one month.

Project Info:

Status: built, 2022
Area: sqm
Client: FATFACE
Location: ShenYang
Photography: Topia Vision

Fatface is a local boutique coffee shop in Shenyang. Its brand values embody an emphasis on coffee quality, concept, and a positively rebellious attitude. The design integrates these values into both the space and the brand, drawing inspiration from an understanding of local context and coffee culture.

Shenyang is a city of beer culture. From the atmosphere of its streets and alleys to the character of its people, the role of beer culture within the urban and cultural fabric is thought-provoking. What role should coffee culture play in conversing with it? How to approach beer culture, and how to approach coffee culture? This pop-up store explores the existence and relationship between the two, using installation methods and direct signifiers to express the cultural clash.

Considering the cost control and spatial tension required for a short-term pop-up, we chose modular beer crates as the building blocks for all furniture. Through the unique structure of the beer crates and their combination with custom panels, we realized various possibilities including the bar counter, seating, merchandise display, and MEP integration.

We used a long bar counter composed of 300 crates to define the activities within the space, creating the most direct spatial interactive experience. The transparency of the glass countertop reveals the complete volumetric logic of the crate elements. The design subverts traditional layout logic by swapping the positions of the barista and the guests. It appears to eliminate face-to-face communication space between guests, but actually directs the view outward to the window. All seats face the window view, reinforcing the spatial orientation and highlighting the inherent qualities of the gallery space.

The final spatial presentation is inclusive and precise, allowing people to explore an open proposition within a relaxed atmosphere.

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.

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

Vestibulum Inceptos Gravida, Ornare Review,
by Tincidunt Nisl
2024

Ullamcorper Faucibus (Congue) Euismod, by Ligula Parturient, Bibendum Review Porta Libero
2023

Dictumst Tristique, Facilisis Magazine, Edition Two, Porta Libero
2021

Auctor Adipiscing Art Magazine, Porta Libero
2020

Sollicitudin Ornare Magazine,
Porta Libero
2020

Press