Birds of Paradise

When award-winning mixologist Yao Lu and chef Austin Hu, the team behind Union Trading Company, asked if we were keen on doing a tiki-inspired venue, it was a little difficult to imagine the tropics in the dead of winter; furthermore imagining the tropics in Shanghai, China of all places. The clients requested a space that was a modern take on tiki, and one that could day trade as an eatery until it transformed into a bar at night.
The design process included meaningful discussions over the clients’ personal take on hospitality, research into the history, and t adjustment of where to draw the fine line between a modern look versus the over-the-top eccentricity of the tiki aesthetic. From this perspective, we looked at tiki, not purely as an aesthetic, but dug deeper into the historical context of how the style came to be.
Inspired by tiki’s rapid assimilation into Post-World War II America, the Polynesian aesthetics of the time were widely accepted to address the pressures of society. Tiki in this context, combined with the duo’s philosophy on hospitality, was how a neighborhood venue that made escapism a commodity was conceived. Welcome to Birds of Paradise.

Warm wood tones that darkened along the length of the bar and a warm lighting scheme that turned neon show contrast to support the experience of escaping one’s usual environment. This is particularly prevalent in the circular foyer that helps the main entrance break away from the rectilinear rhythm of neighboring shops.
Nods to the traditional tiki aesthetics were included, with tropical wallpaper and reserved use of bamboo and rattan. A custom bar front made of cast concrete panels with bamboo imprints, provided a modern twist to the usual bamboo bar front in tiki’s past, by signifying the impact of the aesthetic to this day.

Kru on Tap