Exotic Baseball: A Mysterious and Desolate Restaurant Design

Breaking Stereotypes with Bold and Innovative Design

The Exotic Baseball restaurant, designed by Ching-Hsiao Chiu, challenges the norms of hot pot restaurant design with its mysterious and desolate atmosphere. Inspired by young people who love baseball and reject conformity, this unique space combines elements of concrete and rusted iron to create an exotic ambiance reminiscent of Morocco. Let's explore the distinctive features and creative process behind this captivating design.

The Exotic Baseball restaurant stands out with its unconventional use of materials and captivating visual elements. The design team selected rough-textured cement and rustic gray tones to convey a natural charm, creating irregular lines that add character to the space. The main materials used are cement and rusted iron, with light gray and dark red accents that breathe new life into the restaurant. A striking feature is the cement block smashed onto the red brick wall, spreading irregular lines and highlighting the logo light of the home-plate design. The design team also incorporated a flaky texture in the concrete, revealing a mottled and vague feeling that entices diners to enter the restaurant.

While the Exotic Baseball restaurant breaks stereotypes with its bold design, it also pays attention to the finer details. The tables and chairs incorporate elements of a chariot, echoing the restaurant's name and creating a unique dining experience. The design team successfully strikes a balance between boldness and refinement, ensuring that the space exudes character without sacrificing comfort.

With a total area of 654.5 square meters, the Exotic Baseball restaurant offers ample space for diners to enjoy their meals. The first floor, spanning 436 square meters with a height of 4.2 meters, includes a checkout counter, bartending counter, kitchen, pick-up area, and booths. The second floor, covering 218 square meters and featuring a pitched roof, houses a washroom and three private rooms. The sliding doors of the private rooms can be flexibly adjusted according to the number of diners, while the outdoor terrace provides a relaxing space for diners and their children.

The Exotic Baseball restaurant not only offers delicious food but also provides a visually stimulating experience. Various areas within the restaurant serve as photo spots, allowing diners to capture memorable moments. From the electrocardiogram wall at the entrance to the customized tables and chairs with love bulbs, every corner of the interior is thoughtfully designed for interaction and engagement. Humorous phrases on the walls further enhance the diners' experience, creating a playful and enjoyable atmosphere.

The Exotic Baseball restaurant project began in November 2021 and was completed in January 2022 in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Throughout the design process, the team conducted extensive research on building materials, ultimately selecting concrete, bricks, and iron to achieve the desired war-like aesthetic with irregular lines. The obscure lighting on the drab concrete walls, coupled with rusted H-shaped steel bars, adds a sense of vicissitude and fortitude to the rustic gray tones. The placement of the signboard logo light in a corner adds intrigue, guiding diners to the heart of the restaurant.

The transformation of the Exotic Baseball restaurant presented several challenges. The original base, a dark-colored tin house, provided little to work with. To overcome the potential issues of material cracking and crumbling, the design team started by reinforcing the structure with H-shaped steel bars. They then boldly splashed undried cement onto the exterior walls, allowing gravity and cement to create natural, uneven patterns. This technique reinforced the rugged Moroccan style and ensured that the storefront stood out from other designs.

The Exotic Baseball restaurant exemplifies the philosophy of the design team, which prioritizes aesthetics and a continuous passion for creating qualitative environments. By embracing plain materials and focusing on unique atmospheres, the team has successfully crafted a space that captivates and engages diners. This bold and innovative design has been recognized with the Bronze A' Design Award in the Interior Space, Retail, and Exhibition Design category in 2023, further solidifying its status as an outstanding and creatively ingenious creation.


Project Details and Credits

Project Designers: CHING-HSIAO CHIU
Image Credits: N5 Interior Design
Project Team Members: Ching-Hsiao Chiu
Project Name: Exotic Baseball
Project Client: CHING-HSIAO CHIU


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