- Project: Sushi Zen
- Architect: LDH Design
- Location: China, F2, No. 33 Wusi Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing
- Year: 2022
- Area: 260 m2
- Photography: Wang Ting
A Historic Setting with Modern Purpose
Located just steps from the Forbidden City, Sushi Zen occupies a 200-year-old building originally constructed in the Republic of China era. The restaurant carries the legacy of Japanese banquets with over 300 years of tradition, seamlessly merging cultural heritage with contemporary design.
Designer Daohua infused the project with oriental aesthetics, bridging Eastern and Western influences to create a restaurant that feels ceremonial, intimate, and timeless. Every spatial gesture, material choice, and curated detail reflects the restaurant’s philosophy: dining as both cultural immersion and artistic experience.
First Impressions: Arrival and Welcome
The journey begins at the Cloud Café on the first floor, a lively introduction that sets the tone for the refined dining atmosphere upstairs. On the second floor, a welcoming counter carved from natural marble with fire-like striations evokes warmth and hospitality. Behind the counter, a cigar room with brick grating sills and a lit fireplace creates a sense of exclusivity and retreat.
Paper windows, textured stone walls, moss accents, and a flowing water feature guide guests deeper into the restaurant, offering the sensation of entering a mountain temple sanctuary.
Central Dining Experience
The heart of Sushi Zen is a ceremonial dining space, anchored by a large hinoki wood table surrounded by round chairs and cloth partitions. Here, chef Suzuki Ohki, named one of Asia’s Top 10 Chefs in 2017, prepares seasonal delicacies with precision.
The interplay of black steel, reflective mirrors, and carefully balanced lighting expands the sense of space, while the use of shadows and warm hues creates an atmosphere both theatrical and intimate.
Private Dining and Cultural Symbolism
Four private dining rooms—Chuan, Ze, Song, and He—symbolize mountain, river, pine, and cypress. Each room features carved pine and maple motifs, while details like a grass-flower path and a full-moon wall motif reinforce the theme of nature and continuity.
This layering of symbolism and craft elevates the dining experience, making each room a unique interpretation of cultural memory and landscape.
Courtyard and Terrace: A Dialogue with Nature
True to Beijing’s historic typologies, Sushi Zen includes a secluded courtyard, a tranquil microcosm of trees, water, stone, and light. Guests can wander wooden walkways toward sunken courtyards surrounded by maple and bamboo, pausing at flagstone paths or enjoying a fire-lit drink under the open sky.
Above, the rooftop terrace frames a direct view of the Forbidden City’s iconic turrets. With their Xieshan gable-and-hip roofs, intricate eaves, and commanding presence, these imperial structures create a dramatic counterpoint to the restaurant’s more intimate design language. Dawn, noon, and dusk become moments of harmony between architecture, nature, and ritual.
A Fusion of Heritage and Contemporary Design
By reinterpreting a historic Beijing building, LDH Design has crafted a restaurant that balances wabi-sabi simplicity with refined luxury. Sushi Zen is not just a dining venue—it is an immersive environment where culinary artistry, spatial design, and cultural memory intertwine.
In doing so, the project demonstrates how architecture can serve as both a vessel for tradition and a canvas for new experiences, positioning Sushi Zen as a landmark of contemporary dining design in Beijing.
