cold lab designed the first store at the West Bund of Shanghai for the young pho brand PHOLOSOPHY. Launching an exploration of presenting a pho restaurant in a contemporary methodology.

The site is located on the ground floor of the shopping mall, adjacent to the outdoor sunken plaza, which has two storefront facades facing the interior and exterior of the mall. The relatively regular store plan leaves a complete space for the dining area.

Considering the properties of the catering store, we did not choose a large area of floor-to-ceiling window system to maximize the display effect, but accordingly placed the wainscot system, so as to preserve the transparency and while displaying, it still retains a more private and pleasant dining experience for customers.

Since there is an exaggerated storey height of 5.6 meters with the mechanical layer above, we control the height of the visual surface within 3 meters, and insert a terracotta brick wainscot system within a perceptible scope, indicating the interrelation between the human being’s body measure and the scale of furniture.

The linear lighting system arranged with the control height of 3 meters, implies a new “ceiling layer” to weaken the exaggerated storey height, hides the messy mechanical layer above and ensures a uniform and bright lighting effect for the space.

The close-spacing terracotta brick wainscot is combined with a fixed furniture system. In the seats and countertops that people actually touch, more skin-friendly plywood is employed to integrate into the wainscot system.

The wainscot layout follows the module of terracotta bricks, giving order to the natural/ handmade materials. The brick laying method at the counter is twisted from a plane stack bond to oblique 45 degrees stack bond; different brick laying patterns of the same material imply the conversion of functions, refusing the distraction caused by adding other new materials.

The subdivided glass face of the custom-made stainless steel window frame matches the material properties of the subdivided terracotta brick. The edge of the stainless steel window frame neatly divides the material boundary, configuring a collision with the natural texture of the terracotta brick. The materialization of the project is trying to reduce the scale and height, as well as to define a more vibrant, pleasant and human scale space thanks to those material collisions.