SIMPLY THAI - GRAND GATEWAY
simply / thai
" simply = modern, western, minimalism, simplicity
thai = traditional, eastern, maximalism, complexity "
Front approach
Front approach
Front approach
View toward the reception counter
View toward the bar
Booth seating in café area
Café area
In 2013, simply thai, the very first Thai restaurant in Shanghai decided to rebrand itself for the first time since its birth 15 years ago. And the main focus of this rebranding was on the interior design of the restaurant.
After researching about the target market of simply thai and the brand itself, we found that the main point to help rebranding this brand is to provide the very strong recognition or sense of Thai-ness since most of the customers are Chinese people and expats who live in Shanghai. But at the same time, the restaurant should show some individual character of the brand as well. And another thing we found quite interesting and helpful during the researching process was the name of the brand, simply thai.
We saw potentials and want to use it as a core idea to develop in the design process.Therefore, IF proposed the idea of redefining these 2 words in the name differently and separately.
simply = modern, western, minimalism, simplicity
thai = traditional, eastern, maximalism, complexity
Both words were used throughout the design process under the technique called “collage” which is the way to attach two things together without simplifying it, so the final outcome would have the obvious Thai flavor combined with the atmosphere of the western/modern look which becoming the core idea for IF to develop the other branches of simply thai as well.
For this simply thai - Grand Gateway Mall, IF mainly focused on how to provide a special experience to the customer by proposing the cabinet wall between the kitchen and the dining area that plays with the curiosity of people. This cabinet contains decorative items from Thailand and also is used for the restaurant function such as storage and service station or even to hide the door between the kitchen and the dining area. Some of them are small green or red (simply thai’s corporate color) windows to let the customers see some movement in kitchen that creates a connection between the dining area and the kitchen.
Location
Owner
Interior Designer
Lighitng Designer
FF&E
Furniture Designer
Main Contractor
Grand Gateway, Shanghai, China
Simply the group
Integrated Field co.,ltd.
Kullakaln Gururatana
Integrated Field co.,ltd.
Paphop Wongpanich & IF
Shanghai Borui decoration engineering Co.,Ltd.
Scope of work
Area
Cost
Design
Completed
Photography
Interior Design / FF&E
240 sq.m.
CNY 1,500,000
Aug 2013
Apr 2014
Integrated Field co.,ltd.