Commercial Design, Retail Design, Interior DesignFlorence LJuly 09, 2025Interior Design, Commercial Interior Design, Cafe Design, China

THE CAFÉ THAT BREATHES || Jingle Jungle by TSPACE Creates a Living Sanctuary of Coffee and Calm

Commercial Design, Retail Design, Interior DesignFlorence LJuly 09, 2025Interior Design, Commercial Interior Design, Cafe Design, China

At Jingle Jungle Creative Coffee in Shanghai, the gentle rustle of leaves mingles with the low hum of conversation, creating a space that feels less like a commercial café and more like a living, breathing organism.

Designed by TSPACE Design, this 300-square-metre coffee shop is nestled within the greenhouse gardens of the Shanghai World Expo Cultural Park, redefining what a café can be.

*Curved low walls and abundant greenery guide guests into a curated ecological experience.*

The designers, led by Zhang Tong, approached the project with a curatorial mindset. Rather than static walls and fixed layouts, they envisioned modular systems and organic forms that allow the café to grow and evolve with time. Flowing wooden low walls and flexible display racks guide visitors through a journey that begins at the lush plant installations by the entrance and leads into a central coffee bar, where the act of brewing transforms into a quiet performance. Here, baristas become performers, crafting coffee while engaging with patrons in a setting that blurs the line between service and art.

Natural light pours through expansive glass walls, filtered by dense foliage of fiddle leaf figs and dragon trees. Moving deeper into the café, the winding low partitions and jungle-like plantings divide spaces seamlessly, cocooning guests within curved seating that echoes nature’s forms. The effect is calming yet energizing—a space that feels both peaceful and alive.

At its heart, Jingle Jungle is designed for adaptability. Modular racks can be rearranged to refresh product displays, and the central area converts effortlessly into an event or workshop space. This flexibility, combined with TSPACE’s ecological design ethos, creates a café that can breathe, shift, and respond to both seasonal rhythms and community needs.

*Cactus-shaped seating adds a whimsical and playful touch to the interior decor.*

The thoughtful layering of textures—from cactus-shaped sofas to verdant clusters of potted plants—creates a sensorial experience beyond the transactional. It becomes a retreat where urban dwellers can reconnect with nature over a cup of coffee, grounding themselves in quiet moments of reflection or lively social exchanges under a ceiling of circular acoustic panels that soften light and sound.

Jingle Jungle is more than a café. It is TSPACE’s vision of “curated commercial design” brought to life: a place where brand, ecology, and human experience intersect to form a living sanctuary in the city. In a market crowded with formulaic cafés, it stands apart not by shouting for attention but by whispering stories of growth, adaptability, and calm.