Photos by Holly Li
In the space of five short years, Great Leap Brewing has gone from being Beijing’s most difficult-to-find craft beer bar to its most ubiquitous. As much a part of the city today as bad air and unfriendly cab drivers, the brewery’s two sizable central locations are among the most popular places to meet and drink in the capital. Such is their level of fame, that newcomers to the city often remain entirely unaware of the company’s third, more modest courtyard setting: the original Great Leap brewpub.
Hidden away on Doujiao Hutong in Dongcheng district – not far from the Drum and Bell Towers – Great Leap Brewing #6 (GLB locations are known simply by their street numbers) is both the smallest and least prominent of the brewery’s quickly expanding empire. This is due in part to the bar’s somewhat limited indoor seating. Housed within a former library, the Qing-era building is centered around a large open patio, with the bar itself taking up much of the indoor space – ideal during Beijing’s sweltering summer months, less so throughout its long, cold winter.
Co-owner Carl Setzer, who along with his wife Liu Fang opened #6 in October 2010, describes the courtyard location as a work in progress. “There was never a master plan,” he explains. “Numbers 12 and 45 were designed as you see them today from the outset. We never had that luxury with the original courtyard. Sure, we had an idea of what we wanted to achieve, but it was really a case of pragmatism. How do we turn this incredible derelict space into somewhere we can brew and sell our beer?
“There have been gradual and necessary changes over time, like the refit inside the bar area a few years back, but for most the part, the courtyard is the very same courtyard I first walked into five years ago – just without the huge pile of trash in the center.”
As if to prove his point, Carl draws our attention to the old 1950s bicycle suspended on the outside wall. “That was here, amid all the junk, when we first arrived,” he says, laughing. “We just picked it up and hung it on the wall, and now it’s a part of the bar’s folklore.”
That sense of tradition, however new, is something Carl has worked hard to nurture and preserve. The courtyard, itself a product of a long and difficult search to find a site that reflected something of Beijing’s cultural past, has been carefully modified so as to protect many of its original features; while its location – notoriously difficult to find, especially for tourists – was selected to help foster a sense of community, both among regular patrons and local neighbors.
“But that’s not to say we’re 100 percent happy with how it turned out,” says Carl. “It’s worked for us to a point, but would we have designed it like this given the opportunity again today? Would I have brought these tables and chairs? The answer is no. And that’s why we want to go back, now we have the chance, and bring it up to the level of our other locations.”
Enter Bill Webb, head of Make Architects’ Beijing studio. The British designer, whose recent work includes the Temple House Hotel in Chengdu (owned and operated by Swire, the same company responsible for Sanlitun’s The Opposite House hotel and Taikoo Li), first met Carl last year during Beijing Design Week, when the two worked together on an art installation at the #45 location.
“I’ve been a huge fan of Great Leap from my first visit onwards,” says Bill. “I remember being led down this maze of lanes and alleys to #6 and thinking, where the hell am I being taken? Then all of a sudden, walking through that big iron door and into this bright, packed courtyard. It’s one of those genuine Beijing moments, when you feel as if you’ve found something wholly unique and secret.”
Having struck up a firm friendship with Carl, it seemed only natural that Bill would be the American-born brewer’s first choice to discuss possible renovations to the original site. “When Carl approached me initially, it was more to get my thoughts on the idea,” explains Bill. “Carl has a very strong vision for his brand that’s evident throughout, but he’s also very open to suggestions. And as the conversation progressed, it became clear this was a chance to do something really exciting.”
Together, the two men came up with an idea that subtly improved Great Leap’s customer experience without detracting from what made #6 so unique to begin with.
As Carl explains: “We’ve got customers today who have been coming here every week since we opened. It was very important that we didn't alter the essence of the courtyard or ruin that sense of communal shared space. What’s the point of maintaining a bar here in the hutongs if it looks and feels like every other bar in the city?
“But at the same time, if this bar is to exist into the future, there are certain necessary improvements that need to be carried out.”
Upgrades, specifically those relating to the site’s year-round usage and customer flow, fell to Bill, whose expertise in maximizing public space saw the designer come up with a plan to draw patrons away from the center and into the peripheral areas.
“There was a significant amount of underused space,” he says. “If you looked at the courtyard previously, customers were bunched up in the middle, with everyone arranged across small self-enclosed clusters. By introducing these outward-facing exterior seats along the courtyard wall, you open up the space, and encourage a greater degree of participation.”
This idea was repeated in the main structure too, where Bill transformed the window areas into seated alcoves, connecting the interior to the exterior. “We wanted to break down the barrier that existed between the two spaces,” he explains.
Adding to this ‘opening up’ of disused areas was the duo’s most ambitious segment: an outdoor shelter, for use in the colder months.
“Beijingers tend to be a hardy bunch,” explains Carl. “So you’ll get people drinking outside until it freezes over. But there is always a period when the courtyard becomes unusable. The new area will help to shorten that.”
Doubling as a storage space during the harshest weeks of the year and a much-needed spot of shade during the very hottest, the new outdoor bar is constructed from a reused shipping container. Bill, whose company sourced the container and cut it to shape, explains: “It was important that the outdoor bar didn't look like a foreign object that has just been dumped in the courtyard. Great Leap has this strong industrial aesthetic – from the clenched fist logo, to the exposed brickwork and cast-iron fittings – so I wanted to replicate that.”
In addition to its strong industrial look, the container’s corrugated roof panel mirrors the wavy pattern of the courtyards roof tiles. “Carl was very adamant that the new fittings shouldn't dominate the existing space. I think we’ve been able to achieve that.”
Great Leap Brewing #6, see listings for details
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