ju+ coffee

Located in the south of Nanjing's old city, ju+ coffee is surrounded by Ming and Qing Dynasty-style houses. The store faces Shengzhou Road, which is lined with banyan trees like umbrellas, and is a five-minute walk from the Qinhuai River. Less than a hundred meters away from the store, in a narrow doorway hidden by a blue signboard next door that reads “Copper and Aluminum Materials”, there is a Qing Dynasty A-Ma Taoist temple, the Tianhou Temple.

Project Location

 Houses with different functional attributes intertwine and coexist, forming the complex urban fabric of this area. The commercial pattern of the ground floor stores along the street still focuses on basic services such as laundries, hardware and miscellaneous stores, and small restaurants. From the perspective of commercial location, Shengzhou Road connects the two very active business districts of Xinanli Historical and Cultural Leisure District, MixC mall and National Entrepreneurship Park, with good potential for customer base.

How to revitalize Old block commercial, how to inject youthfulness into the community by respecting the built environment, and how to build a recognizable café that fits the atmosphere of the old city according to the local conditions are the original points of our design thinking.

Site memory: a coffee shop and a small park

Neighborhood parks used to be an important place for young people to gain a sense of relaxation. Dancing, reading poetry, and strolling through the park were the collective memories of the youth of the 80s. Find a bench to lie on or simply sit on the ground on the gentle slope of the meadow. It can be considered a symbol of a scarce, slow-paced way of leisure. With the development of the times, coffee shops have become a destination for young people to sit and stay. 

We hope that ju+ coffee will recapture the atmosphere of the park, shedding the elitist feel of afternoon tea culture and returning to a more everyday atmosphere.Its atmosphere should be close to that of the newsstands and kiosks that you often pass by in the park.

Therefore, weather-resistant steel and old wood were chosen for the façade to emphasize the simplicity and accessibility; and a more “design-oriented” arrangement was made for the entrance, choosing perforated mesh to strengthen the light penetration and visual openness.

The window of the left side façade is concave inward, and the gray space under the eaves is equipped with pedestal, echoing the sycamore tree at the entrance to form a visual focal point; the narrow door of the right side entrance is set up next to the small square window of the flap, which is like the small opening on the former courtyard door left for the letter carrier to deliver the newspaper. On the one hand, it is convenient for take-away customers to pick up their food, and on the other hand, it makes the image of the whole café become friendly.

The core of the space: the field structure of the bar

The main body of the house is of traditional brick and wood structure. The two side walls of the hill are brick, while the floor slabs are timber-framed. The span limitation of the wooden beam results in several columns in the center of the indoor space, making another division in the already small horizontal width. The depth is a bit too long and narrow compared to the width of the confined space. The disadvantage of the space itself has a considerable impact on the business transformation.

In order to solve these two problems, we placed the bar in the center of the plan according to the space trend. As the centerpiece, it is wrapped in old wood panels to echo the history of the original texture. The vertical cabinetry digests the structure of the wooden columns, and the opening of the counter prevents the cabinet from being too long and creating a wall-like separation. At the top of the cabinets close to the ceiling, we exposed the ends of the wooden columns and beams, showing the structural authenticity while the color and smell of the old wood enhances the time-deposited texture of the space.

The ramp at the entrance leads guests directly to a deeper area. It is hoped that guests will feel a familiar memory, recalling the hallway of their grandparents' house when they were young, just like the old houses around the café.

In the process of walking around the bar, through the openings of different sizes, guests can see the booths and niches on the other side. As the ramp rises and falls, guests are guided to different heights to view the space from a dynamic perspective. The logic of the garden-style space of “visible but not visible” and “changing scenery with each step” gives a touch of oriental flavor to the venue.

The height difference of the walkway forms a slope on the side of the bar, and customized furniture is integrated with it. Leaning on the tiny terrain of this interior, three or five friends can gather around the long table, Sitting on the steps or on the low stools. Relaxed body postures, overhead canopies and cascading slopes create a camping-like experience.

Canopies moved indoors

Canopies are temporary structures that can be found everywhere in the streets of Nanjing's old town, such as bicycle sheds, newspaper kiosks or balconies. We chose the image of canopies as a design element to establish a connection between the interior and the street and to maintain the continuity of visual memory.

There are two canopies in the interior, one in the bar area, which is the core element of the café's park-like feel, and one in the seating area for two, where the single-slope canopy delineates a relatively private area in the space, and the presence of columns under the eaves strengthens the structural order of the space.

The roof of the “canopy” is made of wavy perforated aluminum panels to enhance light and air flow, diluting the heaviness of other materials and making the space more contemporary.

As a support structure, the canopy's thin columns are constructed using a combination of steel and wood. At the junction of the column foundation and the column beam, the flat steel and wooden pole are fitted with dovetail joints.The translation and use of traditional timber node forms in industrial materials creates a uniquely interesting modern vocabulary that combines the delicacy of timber with the lightness of metal.

Wooden forms are also used as visual accents on furniture nodes, such as the small round table next to the card table and the customized long table. This adds interest while maintaining the wholeness of the furniture.

After the opening of ju+ coffee, the Taoist priests from Tianhou Temple are frequent visitors. The fact that the café is favored by them is perhaps a testament to the relaxed atmosphere of the space. The café transforms the daily memories of Nanjing's old city into a spatial narrative, integrating them into the historical texture and community life.

The café provides a unique experience for every visitor, shuttling between old times and contemporary life.

Project information——

Project Name: ju+ coffee
Design Team:Huang Xing, Luo Suhan, Zhang Siyi, Yang Junbo, Zhou Ruizhe
Address: Nanjing
Building Area: 70㎡
Design Period:June 2024-July 2024
Construction:September 2024
Material:Perforated wave panels, art paint, old wood panels, weathering steel, flat steel
Lighting：Nanjing Guangwei Design Consultant Co.
Photography: Howie