Songwu — Baicai Design

Songwu

Songwu is a café and restaurant space located in Hangzhou. We hope it is more than a place of consumption — a place where one can pause, stay, and experience a brief moment of calm amid the city’s fast rhythm.

Credits

Project information:

Status: built, 2025
Area: 104 sqm
Client: Songwu
Location: HangZhou
Photography: Zhang YiFan

The project is located in Qiantan Li, a newly developed area in Shanghai. The store occupies the ground floor with three street-facing façades and excellent visibility. By retaining the existing floor and ceiling, we aimed to create a space that reflects the brand’s tone through furnishings and display installations.

“Each person is an island,” yet here, we hope the islands come together. We took the idea of an archipelago as the spatial metaphor, linking the interior zones through a series of articulated volumes. They remain distinct, yet softly connected.

The front area is open and lively. Toward the back, we designed movable chairs that guests can take outside — blurring the boundary between indoor and street life, and giving the place a sense of community and freedom. The spatial rhythm is intentionally slowed down. From the turning corner at the entrance to the long table deep inside, the circulation unfolds through pauses and gentle shifts rather than a straight line. This rhythm allows the space to breathe, and every shift of view carries a quiet sense of ease.

Material choices are deliberately restrained. Wood, tile, and cement form the primary palette, with subtle touches of metal and fabric woven in. The space avoids excessive decoration, allowing everyday warmth to unfold naturally in its details.

The design of Songwu is a reflection on gathering and connection. Rather than creating a space defined by form, we sought to keep it fluid and open — a place where fleeting moments of life can once again be felt in the play of light and shadow.