- Project: JTF Restaurant
- Architect: WIT Design & Research
- Location: China, Beijing
- Year: 2022
- Area: 800 m2
- Photography: Thousand Degrees Photography
A Contemporary Tribute to the Tang Dynasty and Huaiyang Cuisine
In 2022, JTF Restaurant entrusted WIT Design & Research with the challenge of renovating and upgrading its Beijing location. Amid a turbulent, pandemic-affected dining market, the design team—led by Luo Zhenhua—was tasked with reimagining the restaurant’s spatial identity while maintaining a modest budget.
The goal was to embody the refined spirit of Huaiyang cuisine—one of China’s most historically esteemed culinary traditions—through an interior that evokes the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty (Sheng Tang). The result is a space that bridges ancient cultural symbolism and contemporary minimalism, achieving an atmosphere of understated opulence.
Concept: The Essence of Huaiyang Flavor
Huaiyang cuisine, one of China’s “Four Great Culinary Traditions,” is defined by balance, refinement, and its elusive umami depth. Rooted in millennia of culinary history and documented as early as the Yangzhou Huafang Lu, Huaiyang cuisine represents the pinnacle of state banquet dining.
Drawing inspiration from the Tang Dynasty’s flourishing era—a period known for exuberance, art, and elegance—WIT Design & Research translated these cultural references into an interior language that is majestic yet serene, traditional yet modern.
Architectural Language: Tang Dynasty Grandeur Reimagined
The design captures the stately character of Tang architecture through proportion, color, and rhythm.
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Red walls, green tiles, and black pillars reference the classic Tang palette, symbolizing strength, vitality, and elegance.
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L-shaped corridors connect public and private dining zones, forming a spatial rhythm that recalls the courtyards of ancient Chinese mansions.
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Extensive use of wood lends warmth and texture, recreating the grandeur of traditional timber structures while maintaining contemporary precision.
The result is an immersive dining environment that celebrates Huaiyang culture through the lens of architectural storytelling.
Design Strategy: Tradition Meets Adaptation
Facing a modest budget, WIT Design & Research transformed simple materials into sophisticated statements through creative reinterpretation.
At the entrance, green glazed tiles—typically used for roofs—extend into the interior, flowing across walls and ceilings like a ceramic waterfall. These inexpensive materials, arranged in overlapping layers, produce a dramatic visual effect that merges exterior and interior realms.
Beneath the red walls, floral brick patterns mimic the refinement of woven carpets, infusing the space with both order and warmth. Wooden lattices and hitching posts nod to Huaiyang’s aristocratic residences, while classical tables and floral vases evoke the poetic stillness of literati paintings.
Traditional coin patterns are abstracted and reimagined as perforated metal grilles and partition details. The interplay of circular and square motifs—symbols of heaven and earth—creates a dynamic tension as light filters through, casting intricate shadows across the space.
Light, Layers, and Spatial Experience
The restaurant’s layout transitions fluidly between open areas and private dining rooms.
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In smaller enclosed spaces without natural light, WIT crafted layered visual compositions—perforated partitions, miniature indoor gardens, and warm artificial lighting—to evoke spaciousness and depth.
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In larger dining rooms, wooden louvers frame filtered sunlight and conceal surrounding distractions, creating an intimate yet airy dining environment.
Lighting and material textures work in harmony to shape the ambiance—calm, dignified, and contemplative, yet rich in sensory delight.
Brand Revitalization and Cultural Continuity
The JTF renovation project exemplifies how thoughtful design can revitalize a restaurant brand through cultural storytelling. Facing market pressures and limited resources, WIT Design & Research implemented a “light renovation” strategy, elevating atmosphere and experience without extensive construction.
By aligning the restaurant’s brand identity with its regional heritage, JTF emerged from the pandemic as a distinctive presence in Beijing’s competitive dining scene. The project demonstrates that authentic cultural expression—when paired with efficient design thinking—can drive both emotional and commercial success.
JTF Restaurant by WIT Design & Research is a masterful dialogue between history and modernity, culinary culture and spatial design. Through careful orchestration of color, texture, and light, the space channels the grace of the Tang Dynasty while celebrating the subtle elegance of Huaiyang cuisine.
It stands as a testament to how design—rooted in cultural memory—can transform a dining space into an architectural experience of taste, time, and tradition.
