A single abstracted element can transform restaurant scalability and brand memorability.
What if restaurant interiors could assemble like building blocks designed for children? The Fengyuan Original restaurant in Guangzhou, designed by Lili Xie and Fan Huang, answers that question with 475 steel palm leaves, each four meters tall, standing without external support throughout the dining space. After five months researching coconut chicken restaurants across major Chinese cities, the design team identified an opportunity to create distinctive visual identity through material innovation. Lili Xie and Fan Huang abstracted the coconut tree to its most recognizable element and manufactured leaves in green-plated steel. The result transforms industrial material into what the designers call a fantasy forest, where dining zones feel genuinely immersive. Every leaf arrived pre-fabricated, polished, folded, and plated, reducing installation from construction to positioning.
The engineering behind each leaf reveals meticulous development. Dozens of experiments with aluminum, iron, and various steel grades preceded the final specification: 3mm thick 201 steel, folded 130 degrees along the central axis, bent to four radii, and finished with green spot color plating. The fold angle provides structural rigidity while mimicking how actual palm fronds arch under their own weight. When air conditioning currents move through the space, the leaves sway gently, bringing the forest to life. The Platinum A' Design Award recognized Fengyuan Original in the Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design category, validating how thoughtful modular systems can generate extraordinary visual impact while serving practical demands of brand expansion. Restaurant brands seeking creative distinction alongside operational efficiency will find instructive methodology in the single-material discipline.
The Fengyuan Original demonstrates that memorability and scalability can coexist beautifully. By reducing a brand story to one manufacturable, installable, and repeatable element, the design team created a system delivering distinctive atmosphere at every location. For brands expanding across multiple sites, the question becomes clear: what singular element of your story can become architecture?
