architects peel an old building for an authentic café in korea

beijing-based architecture studio TEMP has renovated an old house into ‘LAS coffee’, a café in incheon, south korea. the original structure was built in the 70s using mainly bricks and concrete for a residential purpose. after years of transformations, the architects have designed a project that mostly comprised of destruction to reveal the original architecture and build an authentic modern café.

the painted white façade has been ground away to reveal the original concrete layers, and the interior drywall and raised floors have been then taken away revealing the inner brick structural walls. the architects have replaced the glazing façade with folding glass doors to allow for a more natural transition from the outdoors to the indoors.

the outdoor balcony area is the only newly added area. it is a stepped concrete block structure with landscape and seating embedded into it. as one steps out of the café down to the street, they pass through a few layers —from the old bricks to the concrete façade, the folding glass doors to the wire ropes. a row of wire ropes bridges the old mass to the new platform creating a triangular volume of space and giving the building a different look.

the familiarity of what used to exist over a few decades is overlaid with a wash of few carefully added components. the coffee bar, the stairs, and the customer’s seating area have mainly been built using concrete, wood, and steel. the noticeable tension between the two embodies the atmosphere of the space. the café explores a way to convert an existing private residential structure into a commercial space that benefits from being more open and public.

project info:

architects: TEMP

location: incheon, south korea

program: café

photography: jin weiqi

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