FLOW BAR&LAB — Baicai Design

FLOW BAR&LAB

Flow Bar & Lab is a cocktail bar in Shenyang with exquisite taste. Flow is manifested as liquid and in motion. It embodies a transition between emotions; the air in and outside of the experimental space in a peaceful night.

Project Info:

Status: built, 2022
Area: 100 sqm
Client: FLOW BAR&LAB
Location: ShenYang
Photography: Topia Vision

Through researching the brand, we pulled out the theme for the pop-up shop: NOISE. Flow is a state, progressing, smooth, like a stream of conscious. It is something people see and people like to see. Meanwhile, there is noise at all times in the flow. Noise is restraint, adjustment; it is temporary, intermittent. On the surface it's an antonym to Flow, where in reality, it is an essential part of it. We hope that in this space, there is critical thinking and a fearlessness that faces inwards and that we can reveal the core and essence beyond words.

Every person looks for and finds themselves in “Noise” over and over again. The space represents a lab for the uncertain and the unknown. We marry the space, the art, and the shattered pieces of life. We dematerialize on this basis and use a giant black canvas to create the zone.

The most intimate objects are the most unknown. We organize and lay out these collected objects and let them grow untethered. All of these pieces and fragments are uniformly processed to be metallic, creating a sense of distance in the familiar. The surveillance is a peeping from inside the space, an examination from self. The metal and the black color are in intense collision that acts in concert with the surveilled state, constructing restless minds in uncertainty. We hoped to design a space with a strong foundation in its values, encouraging those who find themselves immersed to immediately sense the core that the design and the brand wish to communicate.

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.