GanBei: A Timeless Fusion Lounge Bar

Angie C. Chang and Ching-Hsiang Peng's Award-Winning Design

The design concept of GanBei is deeply rooted in Chinese historical period drama. The name GanBei, which means cheers in Chinese, reflects the old Chinese saying that alcohol is the best medicine. The designers transformed a traditional Chinese medicine shop into a fashionable lounge bar, creating a modern time travel fantasy. Guests drinking at the bar are in front of the decorated medicine cabinets, reminiscent of people seeking prescriptions in old times.

The project transformed a partitionless room for rent into a timeless afterdark lounge. Located in the cradle of cutting-edge technologies of Taiwan, this vintage bar serves hi-tech engineers and yetties as a grand escape from reality, crossing through space and time with whiskey and wine. The high contrast and high saturation interior space is achieved through the use of ultra-black cement paint on the ceiling and stone-patterned PVC flooring. Pine blue and violet dyed velvet seats pop out like nebula in space.

The LED-inserted ceiling lamp above the bar is made from the main beam of a Taiwanese traditional house, adding a texture of time to the cosmos. The hidden LED lighting behind the bartender is situational and can be adjusted via microchip. This 60 square meter single-floor partitionless space is located on the second floor of a house for rent, with a bar that is 3 meters long.

The design team carefully examined the Qing dynasty and modern Chinese history for insights to create a historical atmosphere with matching details. All the cabinet hardware (handles, locks) are vintage from genuine antiques. The selection of accessories also reflects an intentional sense of conflict between eastern/western, vintage/modern, and inhibited/exhibited.

Despite the challenge of no pipe system on site, the design team managed to solve the water drainage issue by applying a floating floor under the bar. Customized seat height and hardware colour toning were used to reduce the sense of height difference by 18 cm. This project started in July 2018 in Hsinchu City in Taiwan and was completed in August 2018.

With its unique blend of historical and modern elements, GanBei offers a unique escape from reality. The design, which won the Silver A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award in 2019, showcases a remarkable level of excellence and introduces positive feelings, amazement, and wonder. The copyrights for this design belong to Mogo Design Studio, 2018.