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    Snøhetta creates Holzweiler store informed by Norwegian coastline

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    Architecture studio Snøhetta has completed a shop for fashion and lifestyle brand Holzweiler in Chengdu, China, informed by its Norwegian heritage.

    Located in Taikoo Li mall in central Chengdu, the 130-square-metre store is Norwegian brand Holzweiler’s first outpost outside of Scandinavia.
    The exterior of the store is covered with LED screen”The store features recurring themes of currents, reflections and contrasts inspired by landscapes and coastal movements, a bespoke concept of the forces of norwegian nature playing on our shared heritage,” Snøhetta explained.
    “With the aim of transporting Holzweiler’s love and deep respect for its origins, there is an immediate and consistent reference to the natural world that harks to the brand’s home country.”
    The interiors nod to the Norwegian coastal linesThe exterior of the store features a full-size LED screen, which will be used to display campaigns that showcase that brand’s connection to nature.

    A glass wall framed with wavy lines divides the LED screen into two parts, revealing the store’s warm clay-toned interiors to visitors.
    The reflective surface of the ceiling resembles sky and oceanThe entrance of the store was crafted from floor-to-ceiling sand-blasted stone that extend to the product display area where mechanical arms present Holzweiler’s signature silk, lambswool and cashmere scarf designs.
    Wavy lines were widely adopted inside the store, as a nod to to the shorelines along Norway’s extensive coastline. A series of hanging lights were suspended from the reflective surface of the ceiling, which was clad in steel with a sandblasted finish.

    Snøhetta combines clay and oak in minimalist Holzweiler store

    The clothing racks made with the same steal material run along the curved wall, while the forms of the display tables placed in the centre of the space were designed to evoke coastal rock formations.
    Natural materials were used throughout the store, sourced locally from China. Meanwhile, all fixtures within the store were designed to be flexibly dissembled and repurposed in the future.
    A hero wall with mechanical arms is used to present Holzweiler’s signature productsThe point of sale area is tucked away at the back of the store separated from the main shopping area to provide privacy for customers.
    Snøhetta is a long-term collaborator of Holzweiler’s, having designed the company’s flagship store and showroom in Oslo, as well as its first international outpost in Copenhagen.
    The Studio has recently completed a planetarium in France, featuring two domes surrounded by sweeping wooden walls and a shingle-clad viewing tower in Austria.
    The photography is courtesy of Holzweiler.

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      Halleroed combines futuristic and primitive for Acne Studios store in Chengdu

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      Fashion brand Acne Studios has opened its latest store in China, which was designed by Stockholm studio Halleroed and is located in the submerged SKP department store designed by Sybarite in Chengdu, China.

      The 338-square-metre store has a discrete sandstone exterior marked by a red LED sign displaying the brand’s logo.
      Inside, grey sandstone walls contrast against sculptural tie-dye furniture in earthy tan hues by British designer Max Lamb.
      The store is located inside Chengdu’s SKP department store”Our inspiration was aesthetically playing with design from the 1980s and 90s, and how that period looked at the future,” Halleroed founder Christian Halleroed told Dezeen.
      “The inclined stone clad walls, the futuristic lighting together with the Daniel Silver mannequins – we thought of a futuristic space/computer age feel, but in a contemporary way of putting it together,” he added.

      “We clashed this with the Max Lamb sculpture-like furniture that has a more primitive, earthy feeling.”
      It features tactile, soft seating by Max LambAs well as the furniture, Lamb designed four fabric-clad touchscreens that are mounted on slim poles throughout the store and provide an overview of the brand’s current collection and stock availability.
      Expressive mannequins by artist Daniel Silver and a light installation by designer Benoit Lalloz help to add a futuristic feel to the space.
      Lighting was designed to feel “like a spaceship”Halleored, which has designed a number of Acne Studios’ stores, normally works with Lalloz on the lighting but said the Chengdu store lights have a different feel to those in other stores.
      “These were done a bit differently than previous since they are recessed in the ceiling, but still has the typical look of Benoit Lalloz,” Halleroed said.

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      “We wanted the lighting to feel like a spaceship,” he added.
      A large mirrored column in the middle of the store reflects its pared-down interior, which features a colour palette informed by the grey hues used for early computer designs.
      A large mirrored column sits in the centre of the sandstone room”We used a very restrained palette with the grey, monochrome sandstone on the floor and angled walls, high gloss white walls and ceiling, the black coves in the ceiling, and for the fixtures brushed stainless steel,” Halleroed said.
      “The Max Lamb and Daniel Silver pieces contrast this, with their brown batik fabric and the white with patina and silver mannequins.”
      Previous Acne Studios store designs featured on Dezeen include a “monolithic” store in Paris and a pink-ceiling flagship store in Milan’s Brera district.
      The photography is courtesy of Acne Studios.

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      Atmosphere Architects creates optical illusion in Chengdu jewellery store

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      Geometric grids cover most of the surfaces in this futuristic jewellery store in Chengdu, China, designed by local studio Atmosphere Architects to play with customers’ spacial perception.

      Located in the Jingronghui shopping centre in Chegdu’s Jinjiang district, the 180-square-metre concept store belongs to jewellery brand Kill Via Kindness, abbreviated as KVK.
      KVK is a jewellery store in Chendu’s Jingronghui shopping centreThe store features a dimly-lit entrance lined with green resin panels, which leads through to a windowless display space where the walls are clad in matt black tiles.
      A gridded black framework is installed across the interior’s luminous, frosted acrylic ceiling and matched below by white floor tiles. At one end of the room, a mirrored wall creates the impression that the interior stretches on to infinity.
      Glossy black tiles cover the store’s modular display units”The core concept behind KVK is ‘the reorganised philosophy of art’,” Atmosphere Architects told Dezeen. “Therefore, the client wanted a space that is flexible and easy to reorganise with flexible and adaptable modules.”

      In response, the studio created display units clad in glossy black tiles, which can be divided and joined together to form different modular configurations.
      Drawers hidden in the walls illuminate when openedDrawers integrated into the shop’s tiled walls provide additional storage and double up as adaptable lighting features.
      “When the drawers are pulled out, the light turns on immediately,” said Atmosphere Architects, which is led by designer Tommy Yu.

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      Spiders are a reoccurring motif in KVK’s jewellery. The brand’s concept store nods to this idea via the spindly legs jutting out from the entrance and the black gridded framework that covers the floors and ceilings like a web.
      “There are many elements about conflict, consciousness awakening, aggression and sharpness in KVK’s product concept,” the studio said.
      “In the space, materials and colours with different lights and shades, depths and textures are selected to express the ideology and beauty of collision.”
      The entranced is lined with green resin panelsOther futuristic monochrome interiors featured on Dezeen include a space-themed cafe in central Shanghai by design studio Linehouse.
      The photography is by Chuan He of Here Space.

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      Chengdu reveals “futuristic” stations for its first fully-automated metro line

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      J&A and Sepanta Design have created a series of station interiors based on forms and patterns found in nature for the first unmanned metro line in Chengdu, China.Designed to provoke emotion among their visitors, the 13 stations feature fluid forms and cellular patterns informed by the local tradition of silk weaving as well as the flora and fauna found in surrounding parks.

      Above: Jincheng Avenue Station features lilac-coloured columns. Top image: Cuqiao Station is one of 13 stations designed by J&A and Sepanta Design
      The fully‐automatic, 22-kilometre line has been under construction since 2016 and forms an extension to the existing Chengdu Metro system.
      Called Line 9, it runs between the southeast and northwest of the Sichuan Province’s capital and is the first unmanned metro line in the west of China. Instead of drivers, Chengdu’s new trains communicate with each other using the 5G mobile network.

      Four “standard artistic stations” feature a similar design

      All of the line’s 13 stations are designed by Shenzhen firm Jiang & Associates Design (J&A) in collaboration with London-based studio Sepanta Design.
      According to the designers, their ambition for the project was to create spaces that would “entirely change people’s expectations” of what metro stations could be like.

      Four “feature stations” including Cuqiao, each have a unique concept
      “Chengdu metro stations are not going to be merely points of transit,” said Reza Esmaeeli, founder of Sepanta Design and Design Director at Chetwoods Architects. “They are going to be memorable spaces that offer their passengers an artistic and futuristic expression of their own culture.”
      The stations’ interiors were designed to reflect points of local, cultural interest, with the line passing through the birthplace of Sichuan silk and embroidery culture as well as a number of urban ecological parks.

      The station interiors are designed to look futuristic
      The designers divided the 13 stations into two categories: feature stations and standard artistic stations.
      The four feature stations — Incubation Park, Jincheng Avenue, Cuqiao and Jitouqiao — each have a unique concept, reflecting their local environment.

      The design for Jincheng Avenue Station nods to lotus flowers
      These themes are explored through distinct colours and materials, alongside bespoke furniture.
      At Jincheng Avenue Station, for example, the ticket hall is illuminated by curved, lilac-coloured columns reminiscent of lotus flowers in a nearby lake, while lights that resemble silkworm cocoons are installed across walkway ceilings at Cuqiao Station.

      Cuqiao Station’s lighting was designed to resemble silkworm cocoons
      The other nine “standard artistic stations” have a more uniform design, based on an abstract interpretation of embroidery techniques.
      These techniques are translated into flowing, continuous lines and patterns made up of interconnecting, cell-like forms, which are repeated across ceilings, walls, floors, columns and furniture.

      The standard artistic stations are colour-coded

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      Chengdu’s Line 9 follows in the footsteps of other Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, which introduced driverless metro lines in 2010.
      Beijing opened its driverless Yanfan line in 2017, while Taiyuan, the largest city of Shanxi province, opened its first fully automated line just eight days after Chengdu, on 28 December last year.

      All the stations’ interiors are informed by forms found in nature
      In Hong Kong, Ponti Design Studio has created a concept for an autonomous, double-decker tram with a radial interior design that encourages a safe return to public transport after the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
      Photography is by CHAPA.

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      O shop in Chengdu is a lifestyle store by day and a bar by night

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      A series of mirrored panels obscure the cocktail bar that lies inside this shop-cum-cafe in Chengdu, China created by design studio Office AIO.The shop, which is unusually called O, was named by its owner and the co-founder of Office AIO, Tim Kwan.

      Taking the first letter from the word “object”, Kwan and the shop owner felt that O was the “perfect shape representing eternity – it has no beginning nor end, no direction nor a right way round”.

      The looping shape of the letter O also nods to the shifting function of the 68-square-metre shop: by day it’s a cafe that sells and showcases a curated selection of lifestyle items and designer furnishings, while at night it turns into a bar.

      Down one side of the shop runs a lengthy sandstone counter where the cafe’s coffee machine is kept. Just in front is a long wooden table where the barista can prepare drink orders.
      The base of the counter has been in-built with a fireplace, which can be switched on as night falls to evoke a cosier mood within the store.

      On the other side of the store is a silver-metal shelf where products are displayed and a row of fold-down seats upholstered in tan leather.

      Chengdu cafe features interiors inspired by Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel

      The rear of the store appears to be lined with mirrored panels, but these can be drawn back to reveal the night-time drinks bar. Liquor bottles line the inner side of the panels.

      Surfaces throughout the rest of shop O have otherwise been kept simple. A patchy band of exposed concrete runs around the lower half of the walls, but off-white paint has been applied to the upper half.
      Interest is added by a handful of potted plants and a sequence of arched screens that have been suspended just beneath the ceiling.

      The last screen has been fitted with an LED strip light that can be adjusted to imbue the space with different colours.
      “[The screens] bring a sense of character to the store without occupying any footprint,” explained the studio.
      “We hope that this space will encourage quality ideas, objects, and people to interact and exchange, and ultimately reach a wholesome experience that is objectively desirable,” it concluded.

      O by Office AIO is longlisted in the small retail interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      It isn’t the first day-to-night venue that the studio has created – two years ago it completed Bar Lotus in Shanghai, which boasts emerald-coloured walls and rippling rose-gold ceilings. The project won the restaurant and bar interior category of the 2019 Dezeen Awards, when judges commended its mix of contemporary and traditional references.
      Photography is courtesy of WEN Studio.
      Project credits:
      Designed by: Tim Kwan/Office AIOConstruction: Sichuan ChuFeng Architectural Decoration

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