A new venue featuring dining, retail and music, Potato Head Hong Kong, was designed by award-winning Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto for Indonesian hotel brand PTT Family. His first project in the city, it includes traditional Indonesian craftwork, reports architecture and design magazine Dezeen. The 750 sqm venue in Sai Ying Pun is an outpost of the Jakarta-based group’s Bali beach club and comprises a coffee shop, homeware store and bar with all-day dining at the front, and a restaurant and
music lounge nestled behind.
At the store’s entrance, Fujimoto has created a cluster of thin white frames as display spaces as well as the coffee counter. The white lines are matched by a geometric pattern over the glazed facade, echoing the steel security grills of many Hong Kong windows. Behind the coffee counter, the metal frames change size and shape to become tables and shelves for the company’s curated homeware range.
A mix of Indonesian designs and mid-century classics make up the furniture, including leather armchairs designed by Marcel Breur in contrast to Fujimoto’s minimal aesthetic.
Kaum restaurant is tucked away beyond, an intimate, quiet space with low ceilings and dark decoration. More than 700 carved wooden panels featuring swirling patterns cover the walls and ceiling. The panels were commissioned from craftsmen in Indonesia, and the restaurant features traditional Indonesian cooking methods and indigenous ingredients.
Finally, the almost-secret music room is accessed via a hidden corridor through a secret door at the back of the restaurant. The wood-panelled audiophile listening space contains a record collection and sound system.
