Grid Coffee, Chengdu, China

ESCAPING THE HUSTLE and bustle of city life might not be easy in Chengdu, China – the fourth most populous city in the country with more than 20 million residents – but Grid Coffee, a coffee shop with a compact footprint inside the sprawling six-story, mixed-use development The Ring, provides a scenic escape.

THIS PAGE: With a design inspired by nature, Grid Coffee’s invigorating yet calming interior offers a serene refuge from the hustle and bustle of the city.

“We tried to create a sense of being immersed in a relaxed [natural] ambience,” says Darren Xu, Founder of Shanghai-based design company Spider Creative, which designed the space. That ambience begins at the store’s exterior façade, where a series of curved steel panels in the brand’s signature shade of green lends a carefree feeling. On the mall-facing façade, a pattern of staggered grid squares – also in a nature-inspired green hue – is meant to recall rolling hills of coffee plantations.

Inside, Grid Coffee’s aesthetic blends the old with the new: Warm wood-clad walls and furnishings are a nod to mid-century modern design, while looms featuring shu brocade (a colorful, embroidered silk fabric that originated in Chengdu) spotlight as artful design elements. The exploration of traditional craft continues in the details, such as the table legs and communal tables, which feature mortise-and-tenon joints, a wooden construction technique common to ancient Chinese architecture.

Stainless steel accents add to the modern look, including the bar counter, what Xu considers the “stage where art and function seamlessly intertwine.” In other words, a space where Grid customers can enjoy their coffee, relax, socialize and watch the baristas work their magic.

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