BAOBAO

Linehouse was commissioned to create a new branded architectural language for 甘其食BAOBAO, the first of many stores to line the streets of China and the US, selling the traditional Chinese street food baozi - steamed bread buns filled with meat, vegetable or sweet stuffing. Linehouse created a spatial narrative that married with the brand’s ethos: from garden to plate, using the freshest vegetables in handcrafted baozi. In doing so they played with the concept of inserting a glass greenhouse building for the exhibition and growth of plants. Linehouse proposed a series of house frameworks. The chefs occupy the greenhouse and their performance of rolling, handcrafting and steaming the baozi is framed by this insertion. At high level, a shelf wraps the framework with drooping greenery and branded icons stamped on the back surface. At lower level a high leaner also wraps the structure, with hanging lights allowing guests to linger and observe the activities within the kitchen. The greenhouse is composed of hand glazed green tiles, two tones of wood and glass. This house extends out to the street, operating as a leaner for guests, and further framing the activities within to the exterior. The cashier / service area plays on the idea of a wheelbarrow and garden tools, allowing the menu boards to hang from above. Bluestone cobbles line the floor in the customer area creating a sense of the garden path, and the streetscape beyond. Two leaner tables sit adjacent to the greenhouse. Wood panels rest on a framework, with white metal threading through to become a mechanism for the lights to hang upon. Linehouse was commissioned to develop the branding and graphics for BAOBAO. Bold graphics of a wandering pig, a family of vegetables from the garden and BAOBAO are repetitively stamped on the adjacent glass. The BAOBAO logo is embossed in a darker tone of wood into a pivoting panel on the façade and a wood cut out logo is displayed on the shelf on the exterior. With six new BAOBAO shops now open at locations including Alibaba campus in Hangzhou and in Shanghai’s former French Concession, the newest BAOBAO is nestled among the greenery of Tongji University. The angular greenhouse structure extends above an exterior terrace, framed with layered graphics on sliding wooden panels.

Linehouse is an architecture practice established in 2013, by Briar Hickling and Alex Mok. Combined, Alex Mok (Chinese-Swedish) and Briar Hickling (from New Zealand) have over 25 years working experience in China, Asia and abroad, a rich cultural heritage and an understanding of cultural values from the West, the Pacific and Asia. Shanghai provides a rich historic and cultural context, and operates as a platform for Linehouse to investigate the rituals of inhabitation and how these daily moments can be celebrated through design, transforming the mundane into performative acts. Linehouse is a collaboration of like-minded individuals from various backgrounds and cultures including China, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Taipei and America. The practice has international experience in design and construction, from the small scale and the intricate, to the grand and public. The studio works on projects of varying scales and typologies that allow explorations of both the poetic idea and pragmatic solution. Projects are approached in a holistic manner combining different disciplines: architecture, interiors, product design and graphic design; and drawing on our experience to create new ideas and outputs emphasising qualities of construction, detail, materials and light. Each brief is approached individually, creating a poetic concept for each client through research, site context, history and responding to the client’s brief. Through the process of design, each project has a strong narrative and an element of whimsy and voyeurism, creating a unique spatial experience. Linehouse has been featured widely by the press around the world, including Wallpaper*, FRAME, Perspective Magazine, AD Germany, ELLE Décor Italia, Dezeen.com, Archdaily.com, Designboom.com and countless more print and online media. In 2015, Linehouse was awarded Emerging Interior Practice of the Year by World Interior News. Other awards include Design for Asia Awards 2014 & 2015, Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, and A&D Trophy Awards.

completion: 2015
architect: Linehouse
photo credits: Dirk Weiblen (all) & Olivier Hero Dressen (photo 18)
grafic design: Evelyn Chiu
surface: 62 mq
location: Tongji University, Shanghai