Bonbon Town

过半儿 guò bàn ér

Short description

Tasked with transforming the storage building with little to no daylight into an event venue with sufficient sunlight, the architects placed a series of curated white volumes into the space, functioning as daylight cannons while providing room to fulfill the new program requirements.

Simple white volumes work in juxtaposition with the existing roof trusses. A newly inserted bridge that houses office space spans across the hall, zoning the remaining area into event space, a café, and a bistro area. A 10-meter long bar block wrapped in corrugated stainless steel welcomes guests to the café. On level 02, above the bar and kitchen area, a lush indoor garden lounge provides excellent views into the main space. Behind the curved wall, daylight enters through three roof skylights washing down a conical wall. The outer side of the curved wall serves as a canvas for media projections.

过半儿 guò bàn er developed a tailored passive cooling strategy for the ample main space without using conventional air conditioning to address Zhangzhou's hot and humid summers. New large-scale windows modeled after the original timber pivot windows bring a new sense of permeability to the building and allow natural ventilation. Large fan units placed at the top of the skylights constantly extract hot air creating a low-velocity airflow within the facility, which provides a natural cooling effect. Additional ceiling fans support the constant flow of air.

The "Bonbon Town" hall operates as a single-use venue without partition walls or shared spaces giving private parties exclusive, uninterrupted focus and attention. It provides a mix of blank canvas venue zones and individualized gathering spaces.

Preservation of the existing charm of the building rather than restoration was vital to the concept while adding new spatial variations to the former storage hall.