The night owl cafe

VIETNAMESE GERMAN UNIVERSITY

THE NIGHT OWL CAFE

Scale: 1/25

1. Counter

2. Pantry

3. Staircase

4. Waiting zone

5. Dish washing counter

6. Shelves for utensils

Desired table and chair design

Ngói Space H&P Architects

KITCHEN LAYOUT

Triangle of cleaning, cooking and storing

WEST ELEVATION

Wall cladding

6000mm x 121mm x 14mm

Link:

https://gothongre.vn/product/gothong-trang-am-duong-optuong-go-lamri-14mm/

Countertop, kitchen tops and shelves

Standard dimension: 2440 x 1220 x 20 mm

Can be customized.

Maximum dimension: 3000 x 1280 x 50mm

4 to 6 m long x 88mm x 88mm

Link

https://gothongre.vn/product/go-thong-vuong-9cm-x-9cm-go-dai4m-6m-bao-lang-4-mat/

Link

https://viet-bamboo.com/product/tam-van-tre-ep-nghieng

Pine wood Column

Pine wood

Laminated bamboo planks

PRE-DESIGN ANALYSIS

The goal is to design a coffee shop at the VGU Canteen. The coffee shop must offer something more than just caffeinated beverage. To find this additional quality, I did some observation and analysis before going into the design process.

The cafeteria can be described as having two volumes: solid and void. The void volume is the triple height area with multiple white rectangular pillars supporting the roof. The solid volume is the space whish was divided into 3 floors, each floor is equipped with staircase, restrooms, kitchens, storages, and extra seating space Despite having distinguishable characteristics, the two volumes appear as a uniform entity due to an array of vertical timber bars wrapping around the whole building acting as a brise soleil as well as a facade. This façade “hovers” above the ground approximately 4 meters partially conceal the solid volume and the void volume. The interaction between the façade, the solid volume and the void volume creates a transitional visual effect from opaque, semi-transparent and transparent when observing from afar. The opaque effect is attributed to the solid volume, semi-transparent effect to the façade, and the transparent effect to the void volume These effect intermingle with each other create a coherent cluster of varying opacity Overall, the canteen is a large building with a certain amount of aesthetic.

Currently, the canteen is barely in use: there is one small coffee stall in business. During the day, the vast triple height space is only occupied by a small number of coffee patrons and some students. Fairing even worse are the floors in the solid volume. They are utterly void of users. During the night, the canteen is left empty: there is no light, the doors and elevator to the upper levels are locked, and the coffee stall also stops working. The canteen looks no better that an abandon house: dark, silent and empty

VGU CAFETERIA _ INSIDE

This scarcely in use building has a potential to be an extension of the VGU Library. The library, where the students do self-study and group study closes at 10 PM. However, I have seen a lot of students continue to work pass that time, some even stay up as late as 2 AM or pull an all-nighter. Unluckily, after 10PM, these “night owls” don’t have a place to sit except for their cluttered tiny dorm rooms or the limited space of the community kitchen areas, which are distracting with people mingling around doing their cooking and chattering. Therefore, I would like to offer these night workers a well lit quiet semi open-space to sit comfortably and work away through the night. The nearly abandon canteen can be that space.

Before doing any further designing, I compile a list of demands that a night worker might need to successfully pull an all-nighter:

1. The space must be small: I do not want to encourage this late working habit but sometimes, students must have it The size of the space will limit the number of users

2. Coffee shop and snacks: to buy coffee and sustenance.

3. Comfortable chairs and tables for long hour work.

4. Lighting: they are working through the night so it is obvious they need proper lighting

5. Sockets for charging their laptop.

6. Self service counter: adding sugar, milk or just fetching water.

NIGHT OWL

VGU LIBRARY

DESIGN PRINCIPLE

There are 3 major qualities that all products of an architect should have: Firmitas, utilitas, and venustas (“firmness”, “usefulness”, and “delight”). Although this project is more focus on the interiority aspect of an existing cafeteria, those three rules are still applied.

“Firmness” takes the first priority. Hence a larger amount of time spent on making sure the project can stand firmly by itself. There are two types of structure in use: the cantilever beam and the 4-column post. The cantilever beams transfer the loads of the platform to the gigantic white canteen column. The 4-column posts bring the load directly to the ground The whole structure is timber The brown color of timber helps the project stand out from the canteen’s shade of white and grey Timber is also lighter, easier to attach to the existing columns.

“Usefulness” sits second on the priority list. The café has a compact design so that it is not consuming all the space for the cafeteria function. During the daylight, the compound functions as a coffee shop. During the night, the lights under the platform can be turned on by the students to use as a gathering or studying space. By this the compound is always in used, never left empty.

The last on the list is “delight” Despite being last, this aspect is no less important than the other two It is undeniable that beautiful space do wonders for human psyche. To achieve this quality, I utilize material and structure in a logical and harmonious manner. Logical because the structure is essential to keep the compound firm and the chosen material is reasonably priced and readily available. The material choice brings the harmony effect: pine wood and bambo have slightly different shade of yellowish woody brown but vastly different texture. They are different but similar enough to go well with each other. Hence, every detail is necessary and simultaneously elegant and pleasing to the eye.