ZEECO is a bakery space located in Shenyang, known for its consistent products and youth-oriented brand identity. We envisioned it not just as a place to sell bread, but as a slow, everyday retreat within the city.
The original space featured a double-height volume with a generous scale. We introduced a partial mezzanine while keeping the ground-floor retail area fully open. The recessed second floor creates a sense of vertical continuity and preserves maximum visual openness.
Bread is more than a product—it should feel present and visible in the space. From the entrance, one can see the full process of display and preparation, as well as the upstairs seating, lighting, and activity. The result is an open and transparent theatre.
The street-facing façade is composed in two parts: a solid stone wall that anchors the entrance, and a fully openable folding door system that connects the interior with an outdoor café area.
The exterior features a beige brick with a subtly uneven texture, paired with warm wood tones and soft lighting to create a gentle, restrained visual language—echoing the brand’s philosophy of rustic refinement.
We aimed for maximum openness on the ground floor. When the folding glass doors are open, the aroma of bread, the light from the street, and people enjoying coffee flow seamlessly together. The space is designed to grow organically with atmosphere, rather than be defined strictly by function.
The central bread counter on the ground floor remains fully open to the double height, surrounded by a mix of public and semi-private seating. Circulation flows naturally between the retail and dining areas, creating a dynamic interplay of seeing and being seen.
We designed the second floor as a space for lingering. In contrast to the fluidity of the ground level, this area invites a slower pace. Seating is loosely arranged among bookshelves, ceramics, trolleys, and greenery, elements that create a relaxed atmosphere suited for reading, small gatherings, dates, or informal meetings.
The space is framed by elements like solid wood, clay jars, flour sacks, and shelves, creating a sense of simplicity and ease. These scenes are neither purely functional nor decorative. They feel like everyday fragments evoked by the scent of bread. This reflects our approach: not to fill the space, but to leave room for imagination and daily life.
ZEECO is a node—an ongoing experiment in the everyday culture of bread. We hope it becomes more than a bakery, growing into part of the neighborhood’s rhythm—a place to stumble upon, to linger in, to open up. Like fermentation, it’s a slow unfolding of flavor.
