Surface Design Awards – Complete

• INTERIOR SURFACE OF THE YEAR - NEW
  This is a new category that recognises wall, floor, ceiling and surface design products, including decorative, creative and inventive surfaces for the interior of buildings including both commercial and residential properties.
• COMMERCIAL BUILDING - INTERIOR
  Commercial Buildings that are used for commercial purposes, and include retail, hospitality, workplaces, factories and warehouses and buildings where commercial services are provided. At least 50 percent of the buildings’ floor space will be used for commercial activities.
• LIGHT + SURFACE - INTERIOR 
  The innovative use of light and the way it is inextricably linked to surfaces, whether it’s the effect the light has on the surrounding surfaces or the materials used to create the light. 
• PUBLIC BUILDING - INTERIOR
  Public Buildings used by the public for any purpose, such as assembly, education, entertainment, government, healthcare, transport or worship. This will also include civic centres, community centres, libraries, visitor centres, culture, health + wellbeing, faith, education, sports venues and stadia, transport, central + local government, entertainment and event venues.

Hello Oriental is the exciting new £1.6m market hall and dining destination in the South Pavilion of Symphony Park at the heart of Circle Square, Manchester completed in February last year. Circle Square Circle Square is a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group & will be the home to a thriving community of institutions, students and professionals. It is the first and largest new city park in Manchester for generations, with over 100 semi mature trees, 1000’s of flowers, plants and shrubs.
Bruntwood are implementing a letting strategy to create, “A place where ideas are brought to life, a place created for forward-thinking people to rub shoulders with pioneering businesses. Where entrepreneurs work alongside artists, scientists, and technologists. Where your neighbors are innovators and creators.” Bruntwood considers Hello Oriental to be a development that positively supports the current vibrant & active neighborhood.
Our Client, Chi Yip, wanted to deliver the very best Asian and Oriental produce to their customers but needed a flagship venue that would bring their vision to life. Our brief was to create an atmospheric and vibrant street food setting to complement their Chinese and Vietnamese food offer. They wanted a venue where you can have a different experience & try different foods at different times during the day & night.
The development is spread across three floors, two of which are subterranean. The venue’s focal point will be a food hall that will serve everything from Chinese roast meats and dim sum to East Asian street food. This will be supported by a modern Chinese bakery and an on-site supermarket which will sell all the international products and ingredients that are cooked on-site, allowing customers the opportunity to try and buy authentic products. Open daily between 8am and 11pm (10am - 12am on Saturdays), DJs and live music ramp up the atmosphere, making Hello Oriental an unmissable and exciting venue.
Our challenge was how to attract passers-by into the development & down to the basement given that the ground floor footprint was only 50sqm (which included a 9sqm passenger lift) whilst optimising views down to the basement. This was achieved by:
• Extending the ground floorplate to provide a more commercially viable retail area for the Chinese bakery and café.
• Considering the visitor journey from the entrance to the basement. A sensual undulating timber ceiling catches your attention as soon as you approach the unit and draws your eye down into the basement. The open staircase acts as a viewing platform to see the activity on each level & offer a number of perfect social media worthy backdrops.
• Engaging local artists to make their mark on some of the key areas at the venue to promote Manchester talent.
• The vibrancy ramps up as you descend the stairs into the neon lit “Downtown Oriental” food hall in the basement.
The proposed use will generate footfall through the public realm throughout the daytime, early evening and throughout the week. To address the footfall coming from Oxford Road, a new entrance was proposed facing this direction with a feature archway & illuminated signage above.
Hello Oriental will help service Manchester’s Innovation District on the Oxford Road Corridor:
• 74,000 students
• 79,000 people work here
• Circle Square will bring an influx of 12,000 workers & 2000 residents to the area
• 90,000 average footfall on Oxford road

The interior design of Hello Oriental is intended to be an extension of Chi Yip’s brand culture and ‘on trend’ values. The surface materials therefore needed to meet multiple criteria in support of the overall project aspirations:
• To compliment the street food concept & contemporary style of Chinese/Vietnamese food on offer
• To be durable, practical yet retain a feeling of contemporary quality.
• To withstand the everyday wear & tear of the hospitality industry so that it still looks good for an extended period of time.
• To be resistant to stains, cleaning chemicals & withstand the regular intense hygiene cleaning regime.
• To be cost effective.

A palette of stainless steel, exposed pipework, concrete, mesh fencing, reclaimed timber, tiles & stained OSB board were chosen in muted grey, blues & blacks to create the street food vibe. This industrial palette was complimented by the warmth & drama of the timber wave ceiling & brought to life with the vibrant “neon” lighting & bespoke street art.
Much thought was given to the timber wave ceiling 3D form & material choice. We wanted it to perform multiple functions - Not only does it give the spaces some warmth, make the triple height space feel more intimate, it is also designed to animate the space & lead the eye across & into the development. It’s a talking point for everyone who visits & has been widely shared across social media to help promote the venue.

Efforts to reduce embodied carbon & increase sustainability have been made wherever possible through:
• Reusing and adapting the temporary site staircase
• Specification of low carbon building materials and FCS timber
• Minimising site cuts & material wastage
• Exposing the concrete ceilings where possible
• Use of led lighting
• Aerated taps
• Low flush toilets
Gas hobs use fossil fuels which produce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to global warming. Unusually for an Asian food outlet, induction hobs will be utilised as a more energy efficient heat source (85-90% of the heat energy generated will be used for cooking in comparison to 65-70% for gas) their installation will also reduce the heat and pollution build up within the unit.
Hard wearing materials were selected to minimise the need for replacement or maintenance & easy to clean materials were chosen to reduce the need for harsh cleaning products.

The fittout contract was carried out during Covid when materials & labour shortages affected the programme considerably. The situation was further exacerbated by the fact that the internal footprint & volume was tight & there were no openable windows; we were not able to flood the job with labour once restrictions were eased. The shell of the unit (which we were not responsible for), leaked part way through the contract so we were unable to install the timber wave ceiling, vinyl floors or partitions for some time due to high levels of moisture in the air & fear of delamination, warping, swelling, shrinkage, cracking or mould growth. Careful planning was required to install the ceiling in sections from a movable scaffold in & around the works being carried out below once the space had dried out to catch up on the delayed programme.

The project opened to much acclaim & excitement in Manchester. Such was the praise, it was shortlisted for the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards just a few months after opening.
“The very best cities around the world are known for being hotbeds of culture, entertainment and social activity, and that vibrancy and community is exactly what will be on offer at Circle Square. Hello Oriental is a fantastic concept that will appeal to the students and residents that call Circle Square home, as well as to the office workers and visitors alike.”_Tom Renn, managing director at Bruntwood SciTech Manchester

Marina O’Loughlin, writer for The Sunday Times describes the projects as, "“There’s concrete, wire mesh, neon — the cumulative effect both futuristic and grungy, like a dinner in Blade Runner....It’s a “moody and dramatic”

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