Mercato Shanghai by Neri&Hu: An Italian Market in the Historic Bund
An industrial past deliberately revealed
Mercato at Three on the Bund translates the energy of an Italian market into a restaurant located within one of Shanghai's most historically important commercial buildings. Designed by Neri&Hu for chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the dining destination combines contemporary hospitality with the industrial character of the early twentieth-century Bund. Instead of covering the building with a new decorative scheme, the designers sought to reveal its structure and allow different ages of architecture to coexist.
The project begins with the existing fabric. Old steel columns, brickwork, concrete and fragments of Victorian plaster were uncovered through the removal of later renovation finishes. Three on the Bund has a significant place in the city's history of steel construction, and making its structure visible allows visitors to sense the industrial ambition of the district before it became the setting for a contemporary cultural and dining scene.
A market inside a restaurant
Arriving from the lift, guests encounter plaster ceilings marked by their age beside raw metal insertions. Steel lockers, a sliding gate and suspended glass lamps establish a deliberate dialogue between refined historic surfaces and more utilitarian details. This transition is an important part of the design: the restaurant's informality is not created through imitation of a street market, but through the way familiar urban materials are reintroduced to a grand interior.
The principal dining room is conceived as a lively market. A bar and a pizza preparation station occupy the centre, each framed by steel mesh and wire-glass enclosures. Reclaimed timber canopies soften their industrial appearance and bring warmth to the activity of cooking and serving. Guests can see different parts of the food process, making the service areas an active part of the restaurant's social atmosphere.
The main bar and pizza bar
Above, a network of tubular steel elements recalls the suspended rails of old butcher shops. It is woven around the exposed ductwork, carrying shelves and lighting fixtures that extend across the dining area. The arrangement gives the ceiling an expressive character while acknowledging the practical necessities of a working restaurant. Its lines also reinforce the sense that the dining room belongs to a larger industrial building.
Banquettes along the perimeter are assembled from timber recovered on the site and integrated into metal frames. Their construction introduces the appearance of a deconstructed sofa while retaining a comfortable seating position. The reused wood connects the furniture directly to the architectural history of the building, showing how material conservation can become part of an interior's identity rather than a hidden technical choice.
Private rooms and an open kitchen
The private dining rooms take the form of metal-framed enclosures filled with different materials, including reclaimed timber, natural steel, antique mirror, mesh and chalkboard surfaces. Narrow bands of textured glass provide partial views, while sliding doors between the rooms allow the plan to adapt to different dining groups. The interiors offer intimacy without becoming completely removed from the main restaurant.
The passage between kitchen and dining room uses backlit textured glazing reminiscent of former warehouse windows. It creates a relationship between the work of chefs and the activity of diners, making the circulation route part of the building's theatrical life. The designers treat functional edges as opportunities for visual contact and narrative, not simply as walls that separate staff from guests.
The Bund as the final interior material
A quieter perimeter provides a strong counterpoint to the central market. Here, pale travertine walls and lighter finishes reduce the intensity of the material palette. Guests seated near the windows encounter the historic Bund and the river beyond, while the interior shifts from enclosed market energy toward an expansive connection with the skyline.
The restaurant succeeds through an active relationship between old and new. The restored structure, visible work areas, adaptable private rooms and riverfront views all have distinct roles, yet the design brings them into a coherent sequence. Mercato is not merely a rustic Italian restaurant placed in a historic setting: it is an architectural interpretation of how Shanghai's industrial memory can support contemporary dining.
Project information and photo credits
Project: Mercato at Three on the Bund, sixth floor, No. 3 Zhongshan East First Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai, China. Interior architecture and furniture: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office. Client and culinary concept: Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Gross area: 1,000 m². Completed: July 2012. Photography: Pedro Pegenaute. Each photograph is credited in its caption.
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