Press Release
Zhijiang Shan and Fan Li Receives the Bronze A' Design Award for Liao Liao One Cup Cafe in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Zhijiang Shan and Fan Li for architecture, building and structure design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 26, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category for Liao Liao One Cup Cafe by Zhijiang Shan and Fan Li, designed for R&J Design. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Liao Liao One Cup Cafe
Liao Liao One Cup is a single-story cafe pavilion built next to the Luoyang Museum in Luoyang, China. The building applies passive house principles to reduce the need for mechanical cooling. An undulating roofline, inspired by the ancient Luo River, draws air through the open-plan interior and forms the main architectural feature. Weathered Corten steel and mirror-polished stainless steel clad the exposed steel frame, removing the need for added finishes. A raw stone ceiling provides thermal mass, and floor-to-ceiling glazing brings in daylight.
About Zhijiang Shan and Fan Li
Zhi-Jiang Shan is an interior designer known for his cross-cultural design sensibility and poetic spatial expression. With over two decades of experience in residential, commercial, and hospitality projects, his portfolio bridges Eastern philosophies with contemporary aesthetics. From understated minimalism to ornate luxury, Shan’s work defies stylistic boundaries, instead embracing a sensitivity to material, place, and cultural memory. He often draws inspiration from classical Chinese landscapes, local craftsmanship, and symbolic spatial rituals, transforming them into immersive environments that resonate with modern life.
Award Record
Zhijiang Shan and Fan Li is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards span the editions from 2024 - 2025 to 2025 - 2026 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/180902
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/180902
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!180902
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/368171
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.rongjie.org
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
###
Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Liao Liao One Cup Cafe
- Function
- Cafe
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Dark Green, Black, Dark Slate Blue, Slate Gray and Steel Blue
- Images
- 5
- Client
- R&J Design
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Zhijiang Shan and Fan Li
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #180902
Credits
- Team
- Zhijiang Shan, Fan Li
- Image Credits
- Photo: Wei Zhao Video: Zimo Shan
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This cafe pioneers passive house application in commercial hospitality, using the undulating roofline as both environmental system and cultural landmark. Natural ventilation replaces mechanical cooling while Corten steel and mirror-polished stainless steel create a bold material vocabulary. Adjacent to a major museum, the design establishes a new architectural identity for sustainable public gathering spaces in heritage contexts, proving innovation and cultural resonance can coexist.
- Inspiration
- Situated beside the Luoyang Museum, this project was inspired by the challenge of creating a new cultural landmark that advances sustainable building practice. The sculptural roofline channels the ancient Luo River, embedding climate-responsive innovation within cultural symbolism. The vision was to prove that passive house principles can define the next generation of public architecture in heritage districts, where environmental innovation and cultural identity reinforce each other.
- Research
- This project advances passive house application beyond residential typology into public commercial architecture. The roofline functions simultaneously as cultural landmark and environmental system, demonstrating that climate-responsive innovation can generate architectural identity rather than constrain it. Situated in a heritage district, the design proposes a replicable model for sustainable cultural landmarks that honor context through contrast rather than imitation.
- Challenge
- The core challenge was threefold: achieving passive house performance through architectural form alone, creating a recognizable cultural landmark adjacent to a major heritage institution, and proving these goals are complementary rather than contradictory. The resolution embedded environmental function within the sculptural roofline, allowing a single design element to serve as climate system, cultural symbol, and brand identity simultaneously.
- Realization and Technology
- The undulating roofline integrates passive house engineering with sculptural fabrication. Corten steel panels and mirror-polished stainless steel were precision-formed to optimize natural airflow patterns derived from computational climate analysis. Exposed structural frameworks eliminate the need for secondary finishes, reducing material waste. Raw stone ceiling textures provide thermal mass for passive temperature regulation. The entire construction strategy prioritizes long-term environmental performance alongside minimal site intervention.
- Operation and Interaction
- The passive ventilation system shapes the visitor experience from arrival. The roofline draws air naturally through the open-plan interior, creating thermal comfort without mechanical noise. Floor-to-ceiling glazing connects visitors to the museum landscape while maximizing daylight, reducing energy consumption. Material transitions from raw Corten to polished steel guide movement through zones of varying intimacy, each defined by sustainable material honesty rather than decorative excess.
- Project Duration and Location
- Completed adjacent to Luoyang Museum, Luoyang, Henan Province, China in 2025
- Specifications
- Single-story cafe pavilion featuring passive ventilation roofline, weathered Corten steel and mirror-polished stainless steel cladding, exposed steel structural framework, raw stone thermal mass ceiling, and floor-to-ceiling low-E glazing. Climate-responsive roof geometry optimized for natural airflow and daylight penetration. Minimal mechanical cooling systems required.
- Keywords
- Cafe, passive house, sustainability, cultural landmark, Corten steel, innovation, Luoyang Museum, Luo River, natural ventilation, heritage, green architecture, climate responsive
