Indigo Restaurant

Located on the banks of the Li River, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2005, the project, Indigo Restaurant, faced strict regulations prohibiting new construction and requiring that design interventions be limited to the existing base structure. The client aspired to create a culturally rich, multifunctional space that integrates a Hundred Flowers Garden, slow dining café, cultural & creative venue, bakery, and fermented cuisine restaurant—together forming a stage that unites local culture and daily life.

     The concept draws on the proverb “green is born of blue, yet surpasses blue,” symbolizing growth and renewal. The design translates the indigo-dyeing craftsmanship of local ethnic minorities and the landscape imagery of Yangshuo into the interior, linking natural scenery, architectural structure, and human activity. The result is more than a commercial venue—it becomes a new cultural gateway to experience the essence of Yangshuo.

The core narrative of Indigo Restaurant is “a shifting scene with every step.” The entrance begins with the Hundred Flowers Garden, bringing natural vitality into the threshold, while framed windows borrow views of the landscape like flowing scrolls of ink-wash painting. On the B1 level, the site’s mountain-adjacent structure produced a series of continuous columns; the designers unified these through a rhythm of arches, transforming fragmented space into sequential scenery. Each arch becomes a landscape in itself, while together they form a grand spatial corridor inspired by fractal theory.

     The Cultural & Creative Venue employs red patterned bricks and indigo-dyed hydrangea motifs to symbolize ethnic culture, translating traditional craft into a contemporary language. The dining areas evoke warmth with gray bricks and red brick tones, accented with the brand’s signature indigo in furnishings, establishing a distinctive visual identity. To the south, the preservation of an ancient wall integrates history into the scenery, aligning the building with distant mountains to form a living painting and establishing a new landmark for visitors. Overall, the design not only fulfills operational requirements but also creates a crossroads of Yangshuo’s cultural and natural experience.

  The palette interweaves gray brick, white, and red brick tones to create a warm and composed atmosphere, particularly in the dining zones where warm hues stimulate the appetite. Indigo serves as the brand’s symbolic color, appearing in furnishings, fabrics, and accents to echo the tradition of indigo dyeing. Local materials were used extensively, transforming natural grays into layered expressions that shift with viewing angles. The textures of red patterned bricks and the motifs of indigo hydrangeas articulate craft-based connections to local culture. Together, the color and material strategies embed regional identity while allowing the space to reveal dynamic qualities under changing light, day and night.

The project is organized into five functional zones: the Hundred Flowers Garden, slow dining café, cultural & creative venue, bakery, and fermented cuisine restaurant. Each can operate independently yet also integrate into a flexible composite business model. Built into the mountainside, the B1 level transforms structural columns into rhythmic circulation through arch design. The ground level extends into a plaza and ancient wall, framing distant landscapes in dialogue with nature. Interior proportions were adjusted to address the building’s narrow, elongated scale, enabling smooth circulation and sequential yet continuous transitions that echo the local experience of meandering through shifting mountain-and-water scenes.

The greatest challenge stemmed from the constraints of the heritage site. As the project lay within a UNESCO World Heritage protection zone, the building’s exterior could not be altered, restricting interventions to the interior. This required the designers to restructure circulation and spatial rhythm without disturbing the original framework. On the B1 level, continuous structural columns fragmented the space, necessitating arch design and visual guidance to resolve the issue. Another difficulty was the south-side ancient wall, originally a neighbor’s Feng Shui wall. Debates arose about whether to preserve or remove it; ultimately, the team chose to maintain its original form and reinterpret it as a landscape feature, successfully turning a limitation into a highlight.

Upon completion, Indigo Restaurant became both a cultural hub for locals and a destination for visitors. The most frequently praised element is the sightline where the preserved south wall merges with the distant mountains, freezing a moment of time within the frame. The café and restaurant’s warm ambiance encourages relaxation, while the Cultural & Creative Pavilion renews appreciation for local craft and heritage. The overall integration of function and visual rhythm creates a sense of expansiveness, positioning the venue as a crossover space of leisure and social interaction, and earning recognition as a new cultural landmark in Yangshuo.

“Beauty breathes with nature in the interstices of time.”

     The design avoids ostentation, instead constructing poetic pauses through framed views and layered depth. Walking beneath the arches, light shifts with the hour, while the tones of gray brick and red brick evolve accordingly, forming a serene performance of materials. The ancient wall and distant mountains reflect one another, creating a “living painting” that visitors experience as cultural continuity.

     Here, beauty is not merely visual but an atmosphere where nature, history, and contemporary life intersect. In the dining spaces, warm tones nurture conversation; in the cultural exhibitions, craft details invite close attention. Each zone conveys the warmth of lived experience. Whether under sunlight filling the plaza or evening lights illuminating the arcades, the space becomes a vessel of emotion, carrying the stories of people and place in an unbroken dialogue across time.

Situated along the Li River, a World Heritage protection zone, Indigo Restaurant required adaptive reuse rather than new construction. Inspired by the proverb “green is born of blue, yet surpasses blue,” the design integrates the indigo-dyeing crafts of local minorities with Yangshuo’s landscape imagery. Space was organized into five zones—the Hundred Flowers Garden, slow dining café, cultural & creative pavilion, bakery, and fermented cuisine restaurant—each able to operate independently or in tandem, forming a cultural stage that unites local heritage with daily life.

     Highlights include the experience of “shifting scenery with each step”: on the B1 level, continuous structural columns were unified by a sequence of arches that transform fragmentation into rhythmic circulation; the Cultural & Creative Venue employs red patterned bricks and indigo motifs to reflect ethnic culture; and dining areas use gray brick, red brick, and indigo to establish a warm, inviting atmosphere. The preserved ancient wall frames vistas with the distant mountains, creating a new cultural landmark. The project elevates both functional and cultural dimensions, enabling visitors to experience Yangshuo’s depth through the interplay of light, shadow, and history.

Sustainability strategies emphasized preservation and reuse. Existing materials and the ancient wall were retained to avoid unnecessary resource consumption. Color schemes favored natural grays and earth tones, allowing the architecture to blend into the environment rather than impose upon it. Openings were strategically placed to maximize daylighting and ventilation, reducing reliance on artificial lighting and air conditioning. The use of indigo crafts and local red flower bricks not only preserved cultural lineage but also reduced carbon emissions associated with long-distance transport. In dining areas, durable materials and low-energy equipment further reflected a sustainable ethos, demonstrating that environmental responsibility can be embedded in detail.