Chinese studio Offhand Practice has completed the Mei Yuan Cafe, a glass-walled pavilion in Shanghai that allows visitors to "immerse themselves" in the surrounding park.
Located within the previously inaccessible Mei Yuan Park in the district of Pudong, the slender structure of white steel and glass is designed to have as minimal impact on the existing planting as possible.
"In Shanghai, a campaign to make parks green and open is quietly underway - Mei Yuan Park, originally surrounded by walls, also aims to become more accessible," explained Offhand Practice.
Offhand Practice has completed a glass-walled cafe in Shanghai
"We envisioned the cafe as a friendly interface connecting the community and the park, therefore we chose pavilion as the architectural form, hoping to achieve a delicate balance between permeability and shelter," added the local studio. "The use of floor-to-ceiling glass, ubiquitous grey bricks, and understated textured paint clearly convey our original intention: to create a shelter where people can immerse themselves in nature," it continued.
Mei Yuan Cafe's long, narrow form occupies the northeastern corner of the park, with curved cut-outs around its edges creating space for the existing trees to grow.
The pavilion structure is built from white steel and glass
At its eastern end is the serving area, while the remainder of its site is occupied by sheltered seating areas that open out onto an external terrace to t...