{"id":948207,"date":"2026-05-09T11:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/948207\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T11:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T11:37:25","slug":"atelier-l-models-conical-cafe-pop-up-in-beijing-on-coffee-drippers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/948207\/","title":{"rendered":"Atelier L models conical cafe pop-up in Beijing on coffee drippers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two curved stainless-steel cones based on the form of coffee drippers house Kurasu Pop-up, a temporary cafe<\/a> in Beijing<\/a> designed by architecture studio Atelier L.<\/p>\n

Named Kurasu Pop-up after its client, the Japanese coffee company Kurasu, the pop-up kiosk measures 28 square metres and is located within Beijing’s Taikoo Li Santilun shopping centre.<\/p>\n

It was designed by Atelier L to counter what it called the “generic” nature of its surroundings, with a sculptural form that would gently reflect the trees and lights that line the site.<\/p>\n

\"KurasuAtelier L has created a conical cafe pop-up in Beijing<\/p>\n

“The pop-up sits in the North Block of Taikoo Li Sanlitun, surrounded by luxury flagships and a series of generic ‘box-style’ pop-ups,” Atelier L co-founders Dake Li and Nan Lei told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“We sought to break the box typology and make a visually striking space that interacts with its context,” they added.<\/p>\n

“The diffuse reflection of the stainless steel facade turns it into a flowing canvas for street lighting, capturing the seasons and passersby.”<\/p>\n

\"TemporaryIts conical form is modelled on coffee drippers<\/p>\n

The form of the Kurasu Pop-up was derived from the shape of a coffee dripper, referencing the pour-over coffee for which Kurasu is well-known.<\/p>\n

Atelier L also looked to China and Japan’s shared history of paper folding, with the steel sheets of each cone designed to echo curved sheets of paper.<\/p>\n

\"KurasuThey are wrapped in stainless steel<\/p>\n

The larger cone contains the coffee bar beneath an illuminated ceiling, while the adjoining smaller cone has been angled to create a funnel-shaped standing bar. This contains a circular pivot window at one end, framing views of the trees.<\/p>\n

Inside, the larger cone has been finished with textured beige paint, and the smaller cone is lined in aluminium panels with a wood-grain print, chosen to achieve a warmer feel without sacrificing durability and ease of construction.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Copper-clad<\/p>\n

G Architects Studio clad Kyoto coffee stand in rapidly oxidised copper\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The bar itself is fronted with timber slats and topped in stainless steel, with wooden shelving above and a rear steel door at the back covered by noren curtains \u2013 a traditional Japanese divider made from fabric.<\/p>\n

Both cones sit on a low rectangular metal plinth topped with gravel and boulders, where small tables allow visitors to perch alongside a bench affixed to the exterior of the larger cone.<\/p>\n

\"CoffeeThe larger cone contains the coffee bar<\/p>\n

“The busy street required an immersive coffee experience, and we also needed to elegantly resolve structural issues from the sculptural form,” Li and Lei explained.<\/p>\n

“With a construction timeline of only two months, our design needs to balance weather resistance and buildability,” they added.<\/p>\n

“On the first snowy day, when snow covered the vessel tops, the stainless steel reflected a black-and-white urban scene, and warm light glowed from inside, the design intent was fulfilled.”<\/p>\n

\"KurasuThe smaller cone is a funnel-shaped standing bar<\/p>\n

Li and Lei founded Atelier L in New York in 2019, and the studio is currently based in Guangzhou, China.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Jiangjie Office recently designed a compact cafe<\/a> for the Brita131 Art Museum in Hangzhou, and G Architects Studio clad a coffee\u00a0stand in\u00a0Kyoto with rapidly oxidised copper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Jin Weiqi.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two curved stainless-steel cones based on the form of coffee drippers house Kurasu Pop-up, a temporary cafe in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[4021,4020,4022,77,126129,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-948207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-design","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-sectionall","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116544423176736315","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}