JM Café, White Pagoda Temple in Beijing by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio

The project is located in the old city zone of Xicheng District, Beijing, adjacent to the west side of White Pagoda Temple. It is a renovation project of a 105 m2 coffee and bakery shop...

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From the architect: The residential district and commercial district in this area are intertwined, creating a unique atmosphere full of vitality and local living culture. The square in front of the site is the core of the area, acting as a public space for people to gather. Besides, it also provides the opportunity to overlook White Pagoda Temple.

The key to the design lies in how to balance the relationship between the site and White Pagoda Temple, and how to establish a sense of place in a broader urban context. In recent years driven by the government, White Pagoda Temple area has undergone large-scale urban renewal. The former courtyards have been transformed into cafés, shops, restaurants, etc., injecting new vitality and meanwhile attracting large amounts of visitors. Today, the area has become one of the birthplaces of Beijing citywalk culture, with a bustling crowd and vigorous vitality.

Based on this background, we hope to create a space that can carry this vitality and continuity. The design starts from the walking experience of the hutong, passes through the lively square, extends to the interior, and then leads to the roof terrace, making a natural and smooth circulation, allowing people to immerse themselves in the coffee culture at different levels and perspectives, while feeling the historical heritage of the community. Finally, a multi-level café space was created, extending from the square to the interior and leading to the roof terrace. It connects the city and the architecture, and allows people to perceive the pulse of the city during the walking experience, capturing the delicate balance between the new and the old, the dynamic and the stillness.

Spatial Composition
Walking through the alley, a large stainless-steel façade comes into view. The façade is centered on the pedestrian’s eye level, and the gradient treatment from mirror to frosted creates a unique change of lights and shadows. A constant stream of pedestrians occasionally captures the figure of themselves or the square in the reflection, forming a striking visual interaction.

After walking through the stainless-steel façade, the large glass window reflects the entire café space. The glass façade slightly recedes to the interior, subtly creating a semi-outdoor space. People sit here overlooking the square and enjoy a moment of tranquility, while the semi-outdoor space also functions as a shelter from rain.

The stainless steel element extends from the façade to the interior, integrating the bakery display area, the cashier area and the kitchen. The ground stone adjusts the height and shape with the change of functional areas in a layer-by-layer way. The stone design sits from the square through the semi-outdoor space, to the deepest part of the interior, and the decoration strengthens the sense of spatial fluidity and layering.

In the deepest part of the café, the stepped seating area is surrounded by large plants, and the skylight brings in the sky view and abundant natural lights, making the space transparent and vibrant. The ground, the greenery, the vast sky and the lights and shadows interweave, allowing guests to enjoy the cozy atmosphere of the outdoors even when they are inside.

Stepping outside through the exit next to the step seats, the guests can climb up the spiral stairs which lead directly to the roof terrace. People are free to enjoy the magnificent view of White Pagoda Temple and the urban veins intertwined between the square and the hutong.

The rooftop seating area is equipped with a sculptural “white pagoda” made of the same material as the interior stone. The sculpture stands in the center of the space, and customers can enjoy bakery and coffee around it. Meanwhile, the new “white pagoda” is integrated into the square landscape, complementing with White Pagoda Temple in the distance, creating a unique urban landscape.

Materials | Details
The whole space is dominated by white and grey, which echoes the colors of White Pagoda Temple, and also forms a sharp contrast with the bakery on display. The white and light grey stones extend from the outdoor ground to the deepest wall of the interior. Each stone has different textures, responding to the stainless-steel volume inserted into the square.

The three original wooden structural columns in the space are designed to sculptural forms to hide their original structures. They contrast with the simple and unified ground stone and stainless-steel volume, strengthen the sense of hierarchy of space, and attract the attention of pedestrians in the square.

The frosted acrylic light boxes installed on the ceiling extend from the exterior to the interior, blurring the spatial boundary, while illuminating the grey brick exterior wall and the entire interior space. The exterior walls are equipped with irregular rectangular windows, whose random forms attract the attention of pedestrians, forming a visual focus, echoing the interior sculptural columns, emphasizing the unity and the sculptural sense of the space, eventually giving the place a stronger artistic expression.

Summary
We respect the invisible power and trace of time contained in historical sites, and we think about how to fit the modern lifestyle to shape a new spatial form. Blurring the boundaries between architecture, the city and the surrounding environment allows the space to naturally blend into the urban texture and become an organic part of it. This is a significant process that we value. We expect that the environment combining old and new will not only preserve the depth of history, but also become a part of the city, bringing it new landscape and vitality.

Architect: B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio
Client: JM Cafe
Location: Gongmenkou, Xicheng District, Beijing, China
Year: 2024
Site area: 210 sqm
Gross area: 105 sqm
Architect in Charge: Shuhei Aoyama, Yoko Fujii, Kawashima Masaya
Photography: Zhi Xia