SongYan Creative Hub is a craftsmanship co-working space located on a former tobacco factory compound which is now part of a Cultural and Creative Park. The project is positioned as an incubator to support small start-ups. To echo the program, we proposed a concept, "an open table" to shape the space. Our idea is to create a space where occupants not only work together but, more importantly, interact with each other.
Being inside a historical building, the new construction is not allowed to rely on the existing structure. Thus we developed the stand-alone "furniture", the open table, as the spine of the space. It is a connector that triggers communications between users. The interactions happen as its users work or walk on it. By introducing three standard heights, the structure transforms itself into a table, a chair or a walkway. It is a table for individuals to work on; it is seating where people converse; it is a passage that leads people to see what is happening in their immediate surroundings.