Architecture studio Linehouse has transformed an old railway station in Shanghai, China into a food market by adding a series of translucent sloping screens to create a new facade.
The three-story market, named Ink Ink Market, is located in a residential neighborhood formerly occupied by the Tiantangan Railway Station.
To update the building, Line House added a sloping facade made of a lightweight translucent plastic called polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
It was designed with reference to the old laneway architecture of Shanghai, which often has sloping roofs with chimney windows. The facade is also punctuated by a series of balconies with mesh screens.
Sloping screens create shelter for the piazza at the entrance to the 1,790 square meter market and shade its upper balconies.
Meanwhile, their translucent features allow passers-by to still get a view of the indoor market’s activities.
“The skin acts as a translucent second screen to diffuse strong sunlight into the interior, while at night, light from within shines through the screen, creating a traditional collage of activity and acting as a beacon for the neighborhood,” Linehouse explained.
An atrium connects the three floors of the building, with terraces placed at different levels. Natural light illuminates the interior through a glass roof, where a drooping wooden trellis hangs to filter direct sunlight.
“The interior of the market pays homage to the public halls of historic train stations and gives a nostalgic nod to old Shanghai through the use of dark walnut wood and playful mosaic paving patterns,” Linehouse said.
The ground floor was designed as an open market hall that can be easily adapted for rotating events and vendors. Small market kiosks populate the atrium, while large permanent shops with street seating are located along the perimeter.
A central column with a custom-designed clockwork serves as a meeting point and nods to the iconic clocks often found in railway stations.
Line House has designed a radial floor pattern made of tumbled cobblestone to blur the lines between the market floor and the street outside, while a black metal staircase lined with dark walnut wood leads visitors to explore between floors.
Larger restaurants are located on the upper two floors. Here, visitors can also enjoy outdoor spaces on the balconies that sit beneath the sloping facade.
Ink Ink Market’s bathrooms feature a playful combination of Carrera marble mosaics and green tin tiles, framed by metal trim.
To recreate the grandeur and nostalgia of old Shanghai meeting halls, Linehouse designed a round, carved marble sink and a custom chandelier overhead for the floor-to-ceiling bathroom, surrounded by a colonnade of standing mirrors with vertical lights.
Founded in 2013 by Alex Mock and Briar Hickling, Linehouse now has offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Auckland.
The studio has recently designed a few food markets in Asia, including one in Shanghai informed by Victorian greenhouses and one adapted from a historic Art Deco building in Macau.
Photography is by Wayne Studio.
Project Credits:
Countries: Vanke
Design Principal: Alex Mock
Design Team: Seen by Chengyu Chen, Yunbin Lu, May Siztu, Junging Tang, Fei Wang, Jingru Tong, Wang Jiu, Felix
