Xuezhen Canteen is located in the community of Shangyu Street in Yubei, Chongqing. It is surrounded by a large number of middle and high-rise residential buildings, with various independent shops are opening along the street. Moreover, this community has formed a relatively complete and comfortable living circle, while Xuezhen Canteen is located at the corner of the road before entering the residential area. Therefore, it is hoped that Xuezhen Canteen is not only offering tasty meals but also providing a friendly & warm space.
One side of the main entrance retreats inward, which is able to create a fully open facade area. Besides that, the space can also be changed flexibly and freely according to the weather and light conditions. In addition, the settings of low-profile signboard and the public bench areas on both sides jointly put it at the boundary of commercial space and public space. Moreover, it is also kindly designed to blur the boundary between the ex-perience of neighborhood and customer, which means, this is not only an open dining area, but also a place for free communication among surrounding residents. In the meanwhile, incorporating friendliness and continuity into the spatial strategy first is also Xuezhen Canteen’s sincere response to the current rise of community commercial spac-es.
The original site of Xuezhen Canteen is made up of two shops at the corner. There is a certain height difference between indoor and outdoor, which naturally gives people a sense of safety and comfort with the idea of ‘growing eaves’. Besides that, the eaves extend from the front to the back, connecting the two originally separated spaces, and it is also connecting the indoor and outdoor at the same time.
In the rest area on the right side of the corner, a green planting area was added. Moreo-ver, the elongated window arrangement balances the openness and privacy of the space, giving customers and surrounding residents more free space choices.
After the night comes down, Xuezhen Canteen has gradually become the warmest cor-ner of the block, with providing meals for late-returning residents, and offering light and convenience for ordinary pedestrians passing by. As a community store, while providing basic convenience, it is also committed to achieving spatial healing.
According to the different demands of operating scenarios, the open facade area can be flexibly and freely transformed into a dining area, activity area, product display area, and etc.
Step into the room, the dining area can be transformed from openness to a sense of pri-vacy for different preferences of different customers by utilizing the height difference. Moreover, by placing the wooden grilles, each functional area is reasonably divided and the peace & order of indoor are formed.
There are a variety of seats insides: single seat at the bar counter, double seat with a small table, four-person-seat with a large table, and eight-person-seat with a long table. The multi seats setting is aimed to promote more communication between each custom-er. Apart from that, the single seat on the second floor is relatively more private, and the sliding wooden windows are providing possibility for communication.
In the selection of the materials, the use of solid wood chairs and tables makes it gentle and sturdy to be touched. Moreover, with the natural stone-wash wall, the overall low-saturation color impression of the space is created, and a comfortable dining experience with daily meals is also formed.
Facing a new round of competition in the creation of community space, Xuezhen Can-teen maintains restraint and goodwill, and hopes that the design can bring the pace of life of neighbourhood social interaction back. Moreover, from design to implementa-tion, it advocates the friendliness and continuity of the space. Furthermore, it is also a real exploration and lifestyle proposal for the current community-based space.