URBAN OASIS

Located in the central business district of Beijing, Oh Yeah Brewing distinguishes itself with warm, approachable interiors.

- PRAISE POH

It is hard to miss Oh Yeah Brewing. Its name is displayed in a large font on the huge stainless-steel box positioned at the entrance and on the building’s beige, textured-finish facade.

Designed by hcreates, an interior design and consulting studio based in Shanghai, the new craft beer bar stands out from the concrete grey of its surroundings.

A GRAND ENTRANCE

Tucked behind rows of skyscrapers, the building was formerly the site of an aviation parts factory with a notable 10m-high ceiling.

“The client was opening an impressive venue that would instantly become a go-to in Beijing,” says Hannah Churchill, founder of hcreates.

“It was also the flagship space for a new international beer brand that needed to stand up globally. Given the scale of the space, we knew we had to be bold with the design.

“We felt right from the beginning that we wanted to have a dramatic reveal when people walked down the driveway. From there on, everything about the brewery was about creating a sense of an oasis in the middle of Beijing.”

Interestingly, Churchill revealed that they initially wanted a different approach to highlight the entrance but the landlord insisted they needed to retain the existing box structure.

In addition, she also needed to orientate the direction of the entrance as it was facing the doors of the building across the driveway, which was considered bad feng shui.

Working around the existing box structure, they decided to give it a fresh new look and shifted the entrance to the side than front on.

“Necessity, while adding challenges to the design process, can often give you the opportunity to balance the practical with design-centric response. In this instance, a double door entrance is a good barrier to help keep heat in the space in Beijing’s cold months.