Chow Oakland is an innovative food and beverage project with a hybridized program – part retail food market, part restaurant, and part commercial bakery. The goal of bringing these programs together was to create a low-waste, symbiotic food service establishment, and the project gets its energy from the intersection of these distinct elements.

Blurring the line between the project’s interior and exterior program, Chow’s grab-and-go supply of food and libations allows patrons to enjoy their meal upstairs on the patio deck. Ample light and landscape are brought inside through operable skylights, and plentiful greenery including planted indoor trees.

To birth this adaptive reuse of a long-vacant concrete and steel building on Piedmont Ave, we partially demolished the existing u-shaped structure, drew a new atrium across the former courtyard, and constructed a roof deck for visiting guests. Wherever possible, the existing structures were exposed and kept intact, adding even more visual interest to the user experience.