Le Poulet designed by dongqi Architects is a restaurant and bar located in Shenzhen, China, and the total area is around 100 square meters. In this project, the main concept is to add a steel mezzanine to maximize the usable space in the building. During the process of design, in order to minimize the effect of the mezzanine on the original ground floor, the architect chooses to suspend the whole steel structure. As a main element of the design, the steel mezzanine is designed by the architect after discussing with the structral engineer and a good amount of elaborate caculation. A curved steel bar which is calculated accurately goes through the fins of the balustrade. Visually it creates an elegent curve and leads the movement of the space. Structrally, part of the fins of the balustrade are transformed into a load bearing component, while functionally, the others could still play the role of balustrade. The entire steel structure looks like a musical instrument and the shape gives a sense of spacial rhythm.
Designed by dongqi Architects
Design Team: JIAN Nan, Jingxian Ye
Photography by Raitt Liu
Similarly, the stair of the mezzanine is also suspended. The balustrade of the stairs, made with a steel panel, here also functions as the loadbearing beam. It is hanged from the mezzanine to let the first step float. A thin steel rectangular table with a length of around two meters is hanged from the structure of the mezzanine to totally free the ground floor.Throughout this method, the architect wants to present the structural aesthetic of the space.