According to incomplete statistics from the media, the average lifespan of Chinese restaurant is about 508 days, which is a disappointed figure. Although the number of restaurants is still increasing, the speed of closing is shocking and heart wrenching. Especially in the past two years, the ecosystem of catering industry has shown a rapid iteration, with the main focus being internal competition. Against the background of fierce competition, the seventh store of the goose hut bistro (Sanlitun store) opened. This is also fully proves that the Goose Bistro brand has sufficient competitiveness in the economic downturn environment.

Having known The Goose Hut Bistro for over ten years, it is very rare for a designer to serve the same brand for ten consecutive years. I remember first meeting in 2014, when we were not familiar with restaurant design. With a passion for design, even the most basic flow problems were difficult for us. Of course, we would like to express our gratitude to Ms. Huang Yuehong, the founder, for her trust and support. Ms. Huang is an experienced diner who has a persistent love and pursuit for restaurants. Especially in terms of food, her understanding goes far beyond eating itself. She believes that food is more about expressing emotions between people, rather than just stimulating taste buds. After multiple collisions, everyone has confirmed the origin of the Goose Hut Bistro, which is the wild goose returns home, the wanderer returns home. This is a warm scene and a feeling of home, so the forest branches serve as the habitat for geese, and the small hut symbolizes the wanderer’s home. Although the design skills look concrete, the form is prominent and easy to spread. Perhaps at that time, we really did not have the ability to handle more complex catering designs, and could only express simple emotions with immature techniques.

Returning to the design of the Goose Hut Bistro in Sanlitun, the form still follows the element of the first store. It is not without updated thinking, but a tribute to the past decade, for the brand, and even more for our unchanging original intention. The presence of forest and houses still exists, but designers maintain sufficient restraint and strive to abandon concrete and symbolic forms as much as possible. The forest in the first store has been abstracted into several vertical branches, and the curved ceiling symbolizes the construction of the house. ‘Wild geese return home, wanderers return home’ has a more metaphorical expression here.

But all of this is a continuation of Goose Hut Bistro’s spirit, to have a good meal with the person she loves. Many times, design not only solves functional problems, but also focuses more on emotional expression. This starts from the first Goose Hut Bistro, which is the designer’s emotional shaping of the space, as well as the emotional communication with customers after the brand is condensed. The emotion may not be compatible with the original design intention, but it is not important. As long as you can resonate with the food, people, or space during the dining, even a little bit is enough for us.

Project Team
Shuang Zhao, Yanan Zheng, Weijia Tong

Landscape Art Design
Yuxuan Yang

Photography
Shuang Zhao