
For nearly two centuries, Shanghai’s residential alleyways — or lilongs — have been spirited hives of culture and community. Initially a haphazard response to an influx of rural migrants and foreign immigrants (from Europe, Japan and America) during the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, the narrow one- or multi-storey dwellings are an integral part of the urban fabric and an archetype that belongs solely to the city. Cloistered behind ornately carved wooden or stone doors, the homes — which often double as storefronts, grocers, tailors and other family-run businesses — feature small internal courtyards for social gatherings and combine traditional Chinese spatial arrangements and details with imported Western architectural elements.

“Many of the artifacts and architectures from this part of history are still visible in the area but are slowly being demolished by the growing metropolis,” says designer Angela Lindahl, the Taiwanese Canadian cofounder of Helsinki firm Yatofu Creatives. Lindahl and co-founding partner Yihan Xiang were influenced by this unique typology when conceiving a modern office for the InMedia advertising agency in the city’s Hongkou district. “We wanted to honour the history without being too direct.” The duo also looked to “similar ways of living in southern Europe, such as the south of Italy, where a comparable way of life takes place on small winding streets lined with residences,” adds Yihan.

Working with an empty 300-square-metre shell, the designers divided the space into two distinct yet harmonious zones that are analogous to life in the lilongs — interior and exterior. The first is represented by a natural oak veneer–clad volume that contains a private office and two boardrooms positioned along one wall.

Large windows visually connect this insertion to the main section “outside,” where non-linear desking formations and differing floor levels introduce “opportunistic meeting points and seating that results from corners created through winding pathways,” says Lindahl.
Textured ceramic tiles in a glossy deep crimson, new concrete floor tiles and oak veneer surfaces complement the original exposed concrete walls and columns and directly nod to materials typically found on lilong exteriors. Custom table and floor lights echo pedestrian street lamps in form and are rendered in a brilliant blue to provide a counterpoint to the blood-red tiles and subtly conjure the dark blue of the night sky.

With this somewhat offbeat concept for an office design, Lindahl and Yihan have successfully translated Shanghai’s urban streetscape into a dynamic environment that aims to foster an organic sense of community similar to that of the neighbourhoods that inspired it.
In Shanghai, a Modern Ad Agency Embraces its Historical Context
Yatofu Creatives utilize bold colours and warm wood to evoke authenticity and nostalgia in this office space.