For many visitors to the UK, sampling the delights of one of the nation's chip shops is on their "must-do" list. The taste of fried potatoes and crispy battered fish sprinkled with salt and vinegar is as quintessentially British as tea and scones.

But, aside from the food, what about the shops themselves – how have they evolved to become the ideal dispensary for this national dish? A group of UK architects spent more than seven months touring the UK, gaining intelligence in a bid to recreate the perfect fish and chip shop… in China.

Inspired by the aesthetics of the UK's distinctive "chippies," Unknown Works, a London and Hong Kong-based architectural studio, used 3D scanning to design a shop in Chengdu, China.

Ben Hayes, Theo Games Petrohilos and Kaowen Ho, who have known each other for more than 10 years, took on the task of transferring the DNA of a UK chip shop abroad. On their fact-finding mission across the UK, they noted the little idiosyncrasies that are easily ignored, which they think are essential to creating the perfect fish and chips experience in China.

The trio used the latest technology, including "Lidar scanning" and "photogrammetry," to capture such small details as salt shakers, fishy trinkets and wallpaper. From the huge amount of data they collected, they created a library of essential architectural elements that form a UK chip shop.

After the theoretical came the actual – the construction of the physical building. Construction has started in the Taikoo Li area of Chengdu. The shop features several folded sleek facades, which will swing out when the shop is open to make full use of the limited interior space. Operating from a street corner, the tables are attached to the facades and foldable as integrated furniture.

The studio hopes the creation of the shop will encourage a wider cultural exchange between the UK and China. Scotts, the chip shop chain that launched the project, was visited by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to York in 2015 and has become a go-to destination for Chinese tourists in the city.

The history of fish and chips is disputed, but most agree it originated in 1860s England – with several sources attributing it to a northern entrepreneur called John Lees, who was selling them out of a wooden hut at Mossley market in Lancashire. Since then, they have become a cultural and culinary symbol of the UK, being referenced by writers such as Charles Dickens and George Orwell and wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, who referred to the dish as “the good companions.” There are currently 10,500 specialist shops in the nation, from which Britons buy 382 million meals every year. While the industry generates an annual spend of £1.2 billion (£1.6 billion) in the country.