Chaa_Cafe

Chaa Café is a shopfront and interior project in Macau by PF Architects, developed in collaboration with HAD Studio. During the shopfront stage, site photographs became the basis for testing material and stylistic directions, followed by discussions with the client to identify preferences.

For the interior, a 3D model and reference palette were used to explore relationships across walls, floor, ceiling and furniture rather than isolated surface substitutions. The client selected three elements: a grey overall tone, dark red tiles and built-in furniture. The last two had not been specified in the designers’ text or reference images.

The team neither accepted the unexpected elements immediately nor removed them. Returning to the attached Design Analysis and Design Advice, they extracted strategies around contrast and spatial unity. These discussions developed into “Material Palette as a Ribbon”: a continuous material system connecting different parts of the space, from which the final interior design continued.