Mercato at Three on the Bund

The 1,000 square metre restaurant sits inside one of the first steel-framed buildings in the city, on the old riverfront. The China-based design team stripped back years of finishes to reveal the original steel columns, brickwork, concrete and plaster, and set new insertions clearly apart from them.

Aged plaster ceilings meet raw steel lockers, a sliding metal gate and a rail of hanging glass bulbs at the entrance. In the main room, recalling a street market, the bar and pizza bar are encased in steel mesh and wired glass under recycled timber canopies, while tube steel rails like those of old butchers carry shelving and lighting.

Banquettes are made from timber salvaged on site, and private dining rooms are steel-framed boxes filled with reclaimed wood, steel, antique mirror, mesh and chalkboard. Along the windows, walls clad in white travertine give a calmer edge that turns attention to the views over the river.