Neri&Hu has adapted an old warehouse building for the Beijing pastry brand Lao Ding Feng

The concept draws inspiration from traditional Chinese pastries, which take shape in ornate moulds. This idea is translated into the design, where a novel cast concrete element is moulded within the original brick structure.

Inside the concrete element, various openings and negative spaces form retail, gallery and office area. Flexible zones for a café and lobby occupy the gaps between the new structure and the shell.

Textured concrete contrasts with the warehouse's original brick exterior, occasionally emerging to fill voids or mark new access points. Through sectioning, including double-height zones, the design aims to foster visual connections between public and private realms.

This project has been longlisted in the heritage project category of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Studio: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Project: Recast | Lao Ding Feng Beijing