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Bird Court JLC, spatial design project in Nanjing — "The clouds move trusting the long wind, swift as if born."

Bird Court JLC

鸟庭金陵中环店

Design Period: Jan 2025
Completion Date: May 2025
Design Area: 215㎡
Location: Nanjing
Space Design: XIAOOU Office
Address: Jinling Central (JLC), Nanjing, China

The moment that foods and drinks appear as commodities, they change people's lifestyles from the inside out. Dining spaces also participate in reshaping every iteration and development of commerce. In this project, XIAOOU OFFICE explores the role and influence of spatial design on restaurant operations, aligning with the temperament of the location and using space to present a reception experience different from that of an ordinary Japanese restaurant.

Agility and Shelter For the design of the Bird Court, we started from the name of the space, using the spreading and resting of birds' wings as the entry point. We embedded both the lightness and agility of wings and their powerful sense of shelter into the space, finding a balance between flow and stability, and also achieving a subtle balance among space, food, and culture, creating a place for a cozy rest amid a busy life.

We communicated fully with the client, deconstructed Japanese dining habits, and conducted on-site research, arriving at the insight of "shelter." This allowed our design not only to focus on the current presentation, but also to add consideration of the store's operating strategy. Located in the commercial center of Nanjing, the surrounding area of Jinling Central has a high proportion of high-net-worth diners. In a core bustling area, private rest is especially precious.

We reasonably divided multiple dining spaces into several semi-independent spaces. Decorative corridor panels use curves to create a private wrapping feeling like wings. Above the curved partition spaces, soft curtains were installed, adjustable in real time according to dining needs, from open to self-contained spaces. After the client began operating, feedback showed that our design brought more operational potential to the store, respecting commercial logic while also accommodating our design expression.

We expressed the agility of wings in the space through lines. The orderly arrangement of wings continues from the entrance to the roof, appearing layer by layer, making the inner and outer scenes continuous and interconnected. As wings flap, ripples arise. We used hollowed-out lines to soften the narrative, running through the store.

In some patterns and texture details, we also made concrete echoes of birds spreading their wings. For the fabric of the furniture, we selected jacquard fabric with floral and bird patterns, and the flying bird lacquer painting at the entrance also extends to the decoration of the private rooms.

Courtyard and Modernity In Japanese spaces, minimalism is common, yet great effort is made to create details: simple yet intricate, unified yet opposing. We also borrowed the techniques of Japanese spaces, achieving extreme visual balance while ensuring that every detail is full of surprises when touched and experienced.

At the entrance, we borrowed the curved bridge of a garden to create an outdoor landscape, used the rich layered relationships of Tang dynasty landscape imagery, and combined them with a Japanese flower pond in a Zen style to create a small scene. The entrance features a suspended curved head beam, using raw wood to create a transformed torii, reconstructing traditional ritual feeling with modern art. Through these added scenes, the restaurant gains a courtyard feeling and also extends the imaginative space of Japanese dining.

In order not to appear dull, we used a contrast between translucent white warm light and black at the bar counter. The entire bar counter can also be glimpsed from the store facade. The Zen spirit of black and white opposition subtly reveals its edge. The backlit rice-paper wall and rows of Japanese wide-mouthed bottles are simple, pure, and eye-catching.

On the walls, we largely used a plain paper-woven wallpaper, which visually has a firmness like bamboo weaving and, when touched, feels like a piece of linen dried in the wind—natural, restrained, and clear. For lighting, we spread it softly, and together with the interlacing lines in the store, it forms a flexible yet firm arrangement, creating a vivid painting of the Bird Court.

We give thebest wish to the Bird Court that " swift and dashing, as if wings had sprung forth; graceful and light, like the cry of a startled swan"