Located in the Shenzhen Pingshan Children’s Park, Single-Roof Cafe is a single-story structure that combines the bar and the shed typologies. The structure sits on an elevated slab above the site’s sloped topography and bends at a 120-degree angle dividing public programs (retail, event, and exhibition) from more private programs (back-of-house, storage, and lounges). 

The shed roof unifies the two wings through its single-planed form and graphic expression of structure. On the interior, the roof’s structural frame is exposed on the ceiling. On the exterior, the structural framing is pattern-matched with a green striped graphic on corrugated metal panels. 

The building’s convex side is double height, framing a panoramic view of the forest and capturing natural light through clerestory windows. The roof slopes down to single height on the structure’s concave side, forming a half-enclosed courtyard and covered patio underneath the roof’s ample overhang. 

Single-Roof’s Cafe’s plan and section is organized to create conditions of polarity. In plan, the “seam” of the bend partitions public and private. In section, the roof’s slope prompts looking out on its high side and gathering together on its low side.

In collaboration with Schneider Luescher