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    Atelier Tao+C creates “luminous” bookshop in Chinese ski resort

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    Interior studio Atelier Tao+C has completed a light-filled bookshop with a timber roof at a ski report in northern China for local retailer Naïve.

    Located in the ski resort of Aranya Chongli in northern China, the bookshop was built within an existing concrete frame.
    A circular opening on the pitched roof allows natural light inA grid of steel and timber frameworks were inserted in between the concrete columns of the original building, while the partition walls of the 420-square-metre space were removed, creating unobstructed views from interiors to the exteriors.
    “We conceived the new Naïve bookshop as a luminous space in the midst of ice and snow, seamlessly integrated with the surrounding landscape, climate and nature,” said the Shanghai-based studio.
    A gridded framework of timber and steel is inserted into the concrete spaceThe timber frame was raised at the south side of the building, taking advantage of the double height ceiling of the original structure and forms a pitched roof with a circular opening.

    The south facade allows views of sloping snow field and forest from the building through the timber-framed, full-height windows.
    Translucent fibreglass on top of the display tables add warmth to the interiorsThe south facing glazed facade along with the circular opening on the pitched roof allow plenty of natural light into the space, creating playful lighting dynamics throughout the day.
    The bookshelves and seatings were arranged along the grids along with a cafe, library and leisure area.
    The glazed facade invite the snowy landscape into the buildingThe timber bookshelves are supported by a stainless steel structure, while the display tables are made of the same timber on wheels but covered by an extra layer of fibreglass with round edges, creating visually lightweight and translucent installations that also allow flexibility.
    “The light birch and fibreglass complement the snowy landscape, making the previously grey concrete space more exquisite and brighter, like warm mist rising from the snow,” said Atelier Tao+C.
    “As the sunlight moves, penetrated, and filtered by the texture of the fibreglass material, softens the hard light and cast soft shadows, the honey colour light oscillates and flows in the space.”

    Atelier Tao+C creates serene timber and travertine reading room

    Bespoke furniture pieces were placed along the south window facade, accommodating both solo resting and casual gatherings.
    Three banquettes in a fluid and meandering shape combine seats on one side and display table on the other, providing an easy access to books for resting customers.
    The bookshop is located in a ski resortAtelier Tao+C was founded in 2016 by Chunyan Cai and Tao Liu, who will join Dezeen Awards China as judges for the interiors category. They have recently selected five projects for Dezeen that best reflect their work.
    The photography is by Wen Studio.

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      Demountable electric-blue grid engulfs On-Off store interior in Milan

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      Italian architect Francesca Perani has teamed up with design studio Bloomscape to create a reversible fit-out for this clothing store in Milan, which is dominated by a flexible gridded shelving system.

      Perani and Bloomscape installed the grid with its moveable shelves as a way to let the On-Off store effortlessly change its display arrangements.
      A gridded blue framework covers the entire interior of Milan’s On-Off storeIt was also a matter of making the store reversible, meaning that the fit-out could be easily dismantled should the retailer move on to a different site, saving waste and leaving behind a clean slate for the next occupier.
      “Too often, the world of retail is still insensitive to sustainability; its lifecycle, however, is too short to continue being ignored,” explained Bloomscape co-founder Rosario Distaso.
      Concrete chimney blocks form display plinths and benchesThe gridded framework comprises beams of poplar wood surrounded by metal frames that were anodised to produce a vivid electric-blue colour.

      The system runs along the walls and across the store’s ceiling, allowing On-Off to hang wayfinding signage.
      Shelves can be moved around in the framework to create different displaysAll of the shelves can be pulled out or slotted in at different points of the framework.
      A fixed wooden clothes rail runs between two of the columns, allowing the hung garments to appear almost as part of the store’s architecture.

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      As the team was working with a limited budget, just a handful of materials were applied throughout the rest of On-Off.
      The same metal-clad poplar wood was used to create freestanding clothing rails that appear at the edges of the store. Sheets of poplar also form the top of the store’s display plinths and bench seats, which have chimney cement blocks for a base.
      Mirrored panels clad the store’s cash register deskAt the rear of the floor plan is a mirror-clad cash register, set against a wall lined with translucent polycarbonate sheets.
      More panels of polycarbonate were used to enclose On-Off’s changing rooms, with a shiny silver curtain suspended in front of each cubicle for privacy.
      Polycarbonate walls and silver curtains feature in the changing roomsOther striking retail spaces in Milan include the Marni flagship with its very own artists’ studio and IoNoi – a hybrid store and gallery dedicated to the work of Italian designer Fabio Novembre.
      The photography is courtesy of Francesca Perani.

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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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      Beyond Space designs colourful office around reconfigurable grid system

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      Beyond Space has created a flexible office interior for a security company in Amsterdam using a colourful grid system that allows the user to change the layout when needed.Informed by an endless repeating grid system, the studio used a structure made from beams and columns to knit together two office floors.

      Top: office interior by Beyond Space. Above: white aluminium beams and columns run throughout the interior
      The rigid grid was constructed from aluminium to create a structural framework that gives the client the freedom to organise and reconfigure the space within it, by dismantling and moving walls as needed.
      “Should the nature or ambitions of the company change, the grid offers flexibility. Walls can easily be dismantled and rebuilt on another point in the grid,” Beyond Space said.

      Yellow-trimmed windows and doors frame private workspaces

      Multicoloured trimmed doors and windows create privacy for workspaces and contrast against the rigid white framework. The studio also hoped the colour would emphasise the flexibility of the space.
      “We wanted to put the emphasis on the fact that these doors and windows are infills in the grid and by making them a contrasting colour, the difference between the grid and the infills becomes clear,” Beyond Space cofounder Stijn de Weerd told Dezeen.

      Plants are encouraged to grow around and up the frame
      Painted concrete serves as a base for the office floor, while zoned areas and infill rooms were made from a wide range of materials including coloured MDF, corrugated sheets and fabrics.
      Carpets in meetings rooms and felt contouring against corrugated-metal walls add texture and softness to the otherwise rigid theme.

      Note Design Studio creates colourful interiors to “break the grid” of 1930s office building

      “The corrugated metal, coloured MDF, felt, solid surface and carpet were chosen to create a diverse palette of different colours and rich textures which don’t remind you of a typical office,” said de Weerd.
      Plants have been spread out throughout the space and add an organic feel to the aluminium grid.

      Glass partitions divide the spaces within the white frame
      A white perforated spiral staircase centres the space and links the two levels of the office.
      Pastel-hued furnishings provide a contrast against the white grid and fixtures, as the studio said it was important to maintain a balanced feel.
      “We wanted to combine the apparently opposite: strict but playful, cosy as well as radical,” said de Weerd.

      Colourful furnishings contrast with the starkness of the fixtures
      Beyond Space was launched in 2020 by Remi Versteeg and de Weerd, who had previously founded Space Encounters, and works across art, architecture and product design.
      Among the architects’ projects at Space Encounters are a tile-clad office building on stilts above a brick warehouse and also and office interior which uses soft partitions to divide space.
      Photography is by Lorenzo Zandri.
      Project credits:
      Project team: Remi Versteeg, Stijn de Weerd, Arnoud Stavenuiter, Menno Brouwer, Matilde ScaliContractor: Verwol, OpmeerPlants: Het Groenlab, AmsterdamContract furniture: Lensvelt Contract Furniture, BredaConsultant fire safety: DGMRStructural engineer: De Ingenieursgroep, Amsterdam

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