Jinming Zhang

About

Hello~ This is Jinming!

I studied at Beijing Jiaotong University from 2016 to 2020 as an undergraduate, and my major is environmental art design. I had an internship at the China Academy of Building Research to do a culture center project...

OMG! This introduction is really too old-fashioned, this is not my style.

So let's find out who I am and what I am doing now!

Contact

Degree Details

Add to contacts

  • Jinming Zhang qr code

Statement

Raise a Toast


Raise a Toast is a design for a flagship store for the young craft beer brand - Toast Ale. Their beers are all produced from waste bread as a response to the monumental quantities of bread that is wasted daily. Toast show that doing good can be fun. By creating beer from what is discarded Toast have saved over 2 million slices of bread and at the same time donated profits to charity, allowing people to have fun and make a positive impact. Toast's core philosophy 'A Beer with More Taste. A World without Waste.' was very inspiring for me and provided the driving ethos behind my project. It led me to create a project that is bold in visual flavour, playful and of course reduces waste.


As waste bread is the heart of Toast Ale I put it at the heart of my design, I explored how bread could be used as building material. Through a series of material tests, I found it is easy to cast into different forms and takes colours well. I can achieve different textures with different ingredients. And another thing I learned is that it is not stable, cracking and warping as it cures, so I experimented with adding fibre reinforcement to make it behave more predictably. To keep them from going mouldy I also air-dried and sealed them. Using my bread based composite, I explored where this could be applied in the space. The main area is a 'bread-block' feature wall on the ground floor that tells the story of Toast Ale.

Our site, Coal Drops Yard, is a really popular and fashionable place connected to retail and dining, making it the perfect location for Toast Ale's flagship store. Within the arches, I split the store over three levels. The ground floor and then two underground floors. The top floor is an exhibition space that tells the story of Toast. The first basement has a bar and a small bakery counter. People can enjoy the beer with bread. The lower basement is toilets, services and storage.

I hope more people will pay attention to the crazy food waste in daily life through my design and Toast Ale. Not just waste bread, but also more categories of food waste requires everyone's strength!


Brand - Toast Ale

Toast Ale's Philosophy
Toast Ale's Philosophy
Collage
Collage — There can't be many more enjoyable ways to reduce bread waste than by drinking beer. Doing good can be fun. I observed this as a key part of Toast Ale’s identity, and so I wanted my design to have fun.

Site - Coal Drops Yard

Site Model
Site Model — Site Model in collaboration with Jiayun Liao, Chaerim Shin, Yaqi Li, and Giulia Sibil.

Launch Project
Site Collage (Group Work)
Site Collage (Group Work) — Coal Drops Yard is a popular and fashionable place connected to retail and dining, making it a perfect location for Toast Ale's flagship store.

Journey - Raise a Toast

Facade
Facade — Here we can see the facade of Toast Ale's flagship store. The left arch is concealed with reclaimed bricks to use for a bold brand mark and to obscure the exhibition within. A coal wagon filled with bread bursts through the wall as a playful way of communicating Toast's use of waste bread and as a nod to the history of Coal Drops Yard. The right-hand arch is a fully glazed the entrance.
Take-away Bar
Take-away Bar — People entering the right-hand arch will be greeted by a take-away bar that also acts as a reception. We have Toast's strong slogan on the wall. The bar is made from mill-finish stainless steel and has a waste-wood fibre cement board on top - creating a robust industrial quality appropriate for the railway arches. The walls are clad with a bold hand glazed ceramic in Toast's brand yellow.
Toast Ale Gallery 1
Toast Ale Gallery 1 — Let's go to the other arch. Welcome to the toast ale gallery! In this space is imagery and information telling the story of Toast Ale. A mini coal wagon filled with fake waste bread comes through from the exterior. And on the right is the main feature, a bread gabion wall.
Toast Ale Gallery 2
Toast Ale Gallery 2 — The rear wall is made from my bread composite material. It is a highly textured surface made from a series of stacked blocks. Some blocks stick out like a shelf to be used to display beer brewing ingredients. The brushed stainless steel surrounding the spiral staircase is adapted from a piece of reclaimed brewing equipment - the mash tun.
Underground Bar
Underground Bar — The same material palette is continued downstairs to create a bar area. This is a space where people can enjoy Toast Ale’s beer and some baked goods. Old cast iron baking equipment is suspended from the roof in reference to the knick-knacks found in old English pubs. This is a space for people to gather and have fun together!

Material Assembly and Spatial Context

AXO with Material Assembled
AXO with Material Assembled — Material List Brushed Stainless Steel / Bread-based Tile / Yellow Glazed Ceramic Tile / Waste-based Brick / Waste-Wood Cement Board / Leather / Woven Wire Mesh / Hand-made Clay Bread

Exploration - Bread-based Composites

Test of Shape
Test of Shape
Test of Colour
Test of Colour
Test of Texture
Test of Texture

Outcome - Bread Composite in Space

Bread Blocks Wall
Bread Blocks Wall — Using my bread composite, I explored where this could be applied to the site. I created a bread block system to be used as a feature wall. From what I learned, I added the fibre to make them flat. I air dry them and seal them to protect them from going mouldy.
Bread Gabion — The bread gabion wall is a playful way to communicate the crazy amount of daily bread waste.