Shanghai’s Blackstone Exchange Bar

Designed by Nong Studio, the Blackstone Exchange draws its design language from traces of 1930s Shanghai, a city and era that was flashy and gorgeous, with nuances of western culture infiltrating its cityscape. The entrance of the bar is set on the side of the building – Shanghai’s Blackstone Apartment – with a long walkway paved with mosaic tiles that seem to fade away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

Upon entering the bar, one is instantly greeted by a wide-open symmetrical space. The top arc shape coincides with the iconic curved balcony on the facade of the Blackstone Apartment. The wall behind the wooden bar is decorated with various baroque stigmas. Against a background of mottled red bricks, a sense of chaos in time and space is created, conjuring an atmosphere that is both mysterious and historical.

The focal point of the entire space is the golden turntable, forming the centre of the stage on the central axis. The shape coincides with the turntable of the bank vault, illuminating the “exchange” derived from its name – a theme that reflects the bar owner’s Wall Street background. Two boxes behind the bar on the side of the lobby are extracted from banks. One is from the western vault, and the other from the Chinese account room. The aisle becomes a long corridor of the “vault”, where stainless steel compartments store the wines of patrons. The wall of the “account room” is decorated with abacuses. The abacus beads form a sense of cloudiness through the light and shadow area, infusing a few additional mysteries to the atmosphere of the box.

The name “exchange” and the origins of the bar are prominently displayed – from old newspaper articles posted at the entrance to the dining table covered with coins, as well as the vault-shaped stage. This mysterious reservedness beyond the extravagant seems to transport one to the heyday of 1930s Shanghai. While nearly a century has passed, and Shanghai has changed dramatically, this space makes it seem like nothing has changed.