UPS Beijing Hospitality Center

Client: UPS
Location: Beijing, China
Type: Hospitality

Calm, sophisticated, and with an understated Chinese feel, the 4000 square foot space for UPS’s presence at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games features four distinct areas: two dining rooms, a lounge area and a bar. It became a home away from home for the UPS guests, a place to have refuge from the hustle and bustle of the games. Tipping a hat to UPS’s brand message and slogan “What can brown do for you?” the space’s dominant color is brown, however, the design firm accented each area with yellows, gold and greens to communicate modernity and a blending of aesthetics from the east and the west. These secondary colors were all a part of the UPS brand.

Echoing the message of openness and global opportunity delivered by UPS, there is no place where guests feel closed off from the other areas. The design team achieved this by designing “moon gates” that acted as windows throughout the space. Inspired by Asian garden elements in which gates are used to frame a particular plant or vista with a round opening, the moon-gates are lit internally and terminate with a series of Chinese characters that refer to travel and transit.