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    Yatofu fosters “relaxed holiday atmosphere” in Jianze showroom

    Design studio Yatofu has completed a furniture showroom in Hangzhou, China, featuring a playful pastel colour palette and a display area housed on a steel-mesh platform.

    The 80-square-metre retail space belongs to Chinese design brand Jianze and forms part of an emerging cultural district in the city’s Liangzhe New Town.
    Jianze’s facade features a floor-to-ceiling opening with retractable glazed doorsYatofu set out to create a “relaxed holiday atmosphere” inside the showroom, which was influenced by the semi-public garden terraces found in European cities and features a full-height opening with retractable glazed doors that connect it with the outdoors.
    “This blurring of the boundary between the inside and outside allows passing pedestrians to easily observe the activities that take place within the showroom while maintaining visual continuity between the street level and interior space,” the studio explained.
    A sage green steel platform creates an additional display areaInside the space, Yatofu used contrasting colours and materials to portion up the floor area while introducing a whimsical touch to reflect Jianze’s products.

    One example is the decision to juxtapose glossy white floor tiles and rough pink micro-cement to create a visual separation between different zones.
    The space is divided by contrasting flooring”The playfulness of the flooring’s colour and configuration evokes a sense of joy and vibrancy, inviting visitors to linger and explore the brand and its products with wonder and curiosity,” said Yatofu.
    The delicate colour scheme also contrasts with the raw concrete ceiling, where exposed ducting and lighting tracks add to the industrial feel.
    The studio designed the showroom as a versatile space for eventsClose to the centre of the open room, a lightweight steel mezzanine provides additional space for displaying some of Jianze’s furniture. A spiral stair in one corner offers a fun and space-efficient way of accessing the platform.
    The raised enclosure is clad in a perforated steel mesh that allows its contents to remain visible as visitors walk around the space below.

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    The structure is painted a light shade of sage green that complements the pink micro-cement walls and floors, adding to the calming feel of the interior.
    Built-in cabinets and shelving made from pale birch wood add tone and texture to the space. The wood was also used to create a monolithic desk in one corner that functions as a service and payment area.
    Steel pegs form an adjustable display systemOn a nearby wall, rows of detachable stainless steel pegs form an adjustable display system that can be used to support various products.
    This use of flexible displays combined with the unconventional partitioning of space contributes to “an experience that exists somewhere between a pop-up and conventional showroom”, according to Yatofu.
    The mezzanine was wrapped in perforated metal meshThe versatile space can function both as a showroom and a place for hosting events such as exhibitions or markets, in particular thanks to its connection with the surrounding public realm.
    “The showroom invites its visitors to connect to the brand through a concept that communicates joy, ease, acceptance and a willingness to share in the appreciation of lifestyle and home,” the studio said.
    The platform was painted sage green to complement the pink walls and floorsYatofu was founded in Helsinki, Finland, in 2017 and now operates globally, working across disciplines including interior architecture, product and furniture design, visual communication and strategic design.
    The studio has previously converted a post office in Zhejiang into a boldly coloured gift shop and events space, and designed the interiors for a teahouse in Helsinki featuring a palette of brick, oak and oxidised steel.
    The photography is by Wen Studio.

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    Aro Archive store features pastel-coloured rooms and industrial control station

    Fashion retailer Aro Archive’s pastel-hued east London store was designed by founder Ariana Waiata Sheehan to evoke “a sense of otherworldliness”.

    The store, located in Shoreditch, replaces the brand’s previous, more industrial store on nearby Broadway Market and was intended to have a frivolous feel.
    The Aro Archive store has pastel-coloured floors in pink and blueThe interior has “a sense of otherworldliness, escapism and fun,” Waiata Sheehan explains, comparing it to “a mixture between a mushroom trip and going to visit someone’s rich aunty who runs a gallery”.
    “We’ve always had very neutral industrial spaces,” she told Dezeen. |But you can get an industrial Zara these days, so time to switch it up and go full personality, which has been scary but so worth it.”
    It is located inside an old Victorian warehouseLocated inside a five-storey former Victorian warehouse, Aro Archive, which sells pre-owned clothing by avant-garde designers, was organised so that each floor has a different colour.

    Monochrome pastel pink, blue and white hues decorate the different levels, which also feature a wide range of reclaimed and recycled materials, furniture and artworks.
    Founder Ariana Waiata Sheehan created the interior design”The pink floor is supposed to feel very warm, womb-like and enclosed,” Waiata Sheehan said. “The blue floor is more light and otherworldly. And the two white floors are very ethereal and calm.”
    White duvet covers by fashion house Maison Martin Margiela were used to create curtains for the changing rooms, while interior pillars are made from reclaimed 1990s metal lamp posts that the designer sourced from a scrapyard in Preston.
    Duvet covers by Maison Martin Margiela frame the changing rooms”The building and surrounding area feel very London, so we did want to bring in a sense of that for example with the lamp posts, metal works and details, bright neon lights and so forth,” Waiata Sheehan said.
    She sourced a number of unusual furnishings for the Aro Archive store, including an industrial control station from a paper-manufacturing plant that is now used as a till.

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    “The industrial paper control station I’ve been watching on eBay for nearly 4 years, waiting for a time I had the space to buy it,” Waiata Sheehan explained. “I wanted something different to the normal till, they’re all so boring and square.”
    The store also has another large metal till and metal drawers that originally came from a 1980s Mary Quant store and were rescued from a squat in Hackney Wick.
    A large metal till was originally from a Mary Quant storeWaiata Sheehan also sourced several smaller pieces for the boutique, where customers can purchase everything down to the artwork, furniture and accessories.
    “I do all the buying so everything is here because I love it in some way,” she explained. “But in terms of favourite pieces in store right now?”
    “For fashion, it’s the Rick Owens orange shearling gimp mask gilet, for objects the Shirin Guild ceramic incense holders and for furniture the wobbly glass table with magazine racks.”
    Waiata Sheehan bought an old industrial control station from eBayWaiata Sheehan hopes the Aro Archive boutique will feel like a home away from home and help to create a community feel in the area.
    “I think Shoreditch is lacking a sense of community and I wanted to work that into the space,” she said. “The feeling of a chaotic family home and a feeling of togetherness.”
    Lampposts from a scrapyard form pillars inside the storeOther London stores with notable interior design recently covered on Dezeen include Swedish fashion brand Toteme’s newly-opened Mayfair store and a Coach pop-up store at Selfridges that had fixtures made from recyclable materials.
    The photography is by John Munro.

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    Yellow lighting illuminates Le Père store in New York by BoND

    New York architecture studio BoND has used tubular lighting to create a bright yellow glow inside this men’s apparel store on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

    The first flagship for cult fashion label Le Père occupies a 1,000-square-foot (93-square-metre) corner unit on Orchard Street.
    The flagship store for Le Père is largely painted white to allow the bright clothing to stand outUtilising the store’s large exposure to the street, BoND opted to create an interior that would be just as impactful from the exterior as it is once inside.
    “BoND designed the store to feel like a canvas, highlighting the design elements of the clothes while ensuring the space is a place that creators feel encouraged to spend time in,” the team said.
    A central column is encased in a translucent yellow boxThe firm’s approach was to leave the majority of the space white, allowing the boldly patterned clothing to stand out, then highlighting the fitting rooms using bright yellow lighting and surfaces.

    A structural column in the centre of the store encased in a translucent box is also fitted with lights to give off a sunny glow.
    Yellow lighting installed in the fitting rooms emits an inviting glowThis yellow aura is immediately apparent from the street and is meant to entice passersby to step inside.
    Neon lighting has seen a resurgence in retail and other commercial interiors of the past year, appearing everywhere from a Brooklyn cafe to a Calgary chicken shop.
    The tube lights were installed on either side of mirrors in the fitting rooms, which are also yellowAt Le Père, other elements like the tops of vintage Artek furniture are coloured red and black, to borrow from the street signs across the neighbourhood.
    Floor-to-ceiling curtains along the back wall create a soft and neutral backdrop for the apparel, which is displayed on industrial metal racks.
    Custom furniture pieces were designed by BoND and fabricated by Lesser MiracleWide-plank wood floors are laid across the main shop floor, which doubles as a space for gatherings, conversations, exhibitions and events.
    Custom furniture pieces including a curved bench were designed by BoND and fabricated by Brooklyn design and art studio Lesser Miracle.

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    “The design scheme blurs the lines between a store, a home and an art studio – a space that is both aspirational and livable, combining contemporary and historic elements as a playful strategy,” said the studio.
    On the exterior, a generous portion of the facade is given over to a giant billboard that Le Père will use to present its seasonal visual campaigns and artwork by the brand’s collaborators.
    A large portion of the facade is given over to a billboard to display the brand’s campaignsThe debut placement for Fall/Winter 2023 was titled And Sometimes Boys and influenced by the work of Korean visual artist Nam June Paik.
    BoND was founded by Noam Dvir and Daniel Rauchwerger, who previously designed the global headquarters and showroom for the Brazilian brand PatBo in New York.
    The glow from the yellow lighting is designed to entice in shoppers on the Lower East Side. Photo by BoNDThe duo earlier overhauled an apartment in Chelsea for themselves, turning the dark, divided space into a light-filled home.
    The photography is by Stefan Kohli, unless stated otherwise.

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    Buller and Rice salon is a showcase of plant-based materials

    East London hair salon Buller and Rice has opened a new venue with an interior design palette that includes seaweed, algae, cork and mushroom leather.

    Buller and Rice Wanstead is a salon that doubles as a lifestyle store, selling products ranging from homeware to wine.
    Company founders Anita Rice and Stephen Buller designed the interior themselves, filling it with bespoke creations from designers and makers including Natural Material Studio’s Bonnie Hvillum and Copenhagen-based Jonas Edvard.
    Buller and Rice Wanstead is a hair salon and lifestyle storeRice told Dezeen their ambition was to use as many plant-based materials as possible.
    “We wanted to deep dive into what could happen with plant matter,” she explained.

    The collaboration with Hvillum – who won the inaugural Bentley Lighthouse Award at Dezeen Awards 2023 – resulted in latex-like curtains made from a yellow algae-based material.
    The yellow-toned interior includes paper and seaweed lamps by Jonas EdvardEdvard’s contribution is a series of yellow pendant lamps made from recycled paper and seaweed, similar to those he previously made for Copenhagen burger joint, POPL.
    Rice said she spotted them by chance while enjoying a burger there. “When it turned out they were made from seaweed, I knew they were perfect,” she explained.
    Latex-like curtains by Natural Material Studio are made from algaeOther plant-based details include a cork wall and seat pads made from algae-based foam, while cushions made from mushroom leather will be added in early 2024.
    The space is also filled with plants, with many installed behind the front windows.
    Seat pads in the waiting area are made from algae foamBuller and Rice Wanstead is the third venue that the company has opened in east London, following salons in Hackney and Walthamstow.
    Rice said the project represents the latest step in a journey of exploration into eco-friendly materials.

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    Initially, they focused on simple natural materials like wood and cork. They then started experimenting with materials made from recycled waste products, including a sheet plastic made from yoghurt pots.
    “Our primary interest is in finding innovative and sustainable building materials that we can work into an aesthetically pleasing approach,” Rice said.
    Yellow tiles feature throughout the interiorThe renovation involved a complete refit of a former Chinese restaurant that had been shut down for years.
    A yellow colour scheme features throughout, marking a departure from the pink hues of the two other Buller and Rice salons.
    This shade can be found on bespoke concrete pieces created by London-based maker Smith & Goat, including an orthogonal reception desk, a wall-hung washbasin and the column-like legs of two styling stations.
    Plants can also be found throughout the spaceStainless steel features on both walls and surfaces, offering a utilitarian feel that contrasts the warmth of the yellow. “Practicality had a hand in that decision,” Rice admitted.
    The space is completed by custom-made barber chairs, frameless arch mirrors, yellow tiling and speckled vinyl flooring from manufacturer Tarkett.
    The photography is by Megan Taylor.

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    Space Projects creates Amsterdam store with thatched hut for Polspotten

    A curvilinear thatched hut has been paired with terracotta-hued tiles at the Amsterdam store for homeware brand Polspotten, which was designed by local studio Space Projects.

    The studio created the store to straddle a shop and an office for Polspotten, a furniture and home accessories brand headquartered in the Dutch capital.
    Visitors enter the Polspotten store via an oversized triangular entrancewayCharacterised by bold angles and arches, the outlet features distinctive terracotta-coloured walls and flooring that nod to traditional pots, Space Projects founder Pepijn Smit told Dezeen.
    “The terracotta-inspired colours and materials refer to the brand’s first product, ‘potten’ – or pots,” said Smit, alluding to the first Spanish pots imported by Erik Pol when he founded Polspotten in the Netherlands in 1986.
    The interconnected spaces are delineated by cutoutsLocated in Amsterdam’s Jordaan neighbourhood, the store was arranged across a series of open-plan rooms, interconnected by individual geometric entryways.

    Visitors enter at a triangular opening, which was cut away from gridded timber shelving lined with multicoloured pots that mimic totemic artefacts in a gallery.
    A curvilinear thatched hut provides a meeting spaceThe next space features a similar layout, as well as a plump cream sofa with rounded modules and sculptural pots stacked in a striking tower formation.
    Travelling further through the store, molten-style candle holders and Polspotten furniture pieces were positioned next to chunky illuminated plinths, which exhibit amorphously shaped vases finished in various coral-like hues.

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    Accessed through a rectilinear, terracotta-tiled opening, the final space features a bulbous indoor hut covered in thatch and fitted with a light pink opening.
    The hut provides a meeting space for colleagues, according to the studio founder.
    “The thatch, as a natural material, absorbs sound as well,” explained Smit.
    The store provides an art gallery-style space for homewareNext to the hut, Space Projects created an acoustic wall illustrated with “hieroglyphics” of Polspotten products, which references the gallery-like theme that runs throughout the outlet.
    “The store was inspired by Polspotten’s use of traditional techniques combined with a collage of their reinterpreted archetypes,” said Smit.
    It is also used as an office spaceElsewhere in Amsterdam, Dutch practice Studio RAP used 3D printing and algorithmic design to create a “wave-like” facade for a boutique store while interior designer Linda Bergroth created the interiors for the city’s Cover Story paint shop to streamline the redecorating process for customers.
    The photography is by Kasia Gatkowska.

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    Rafael Prieto creates “secret garden” for Gohar World store in New York

    Designer Rafael Prieto has lined tableware store in New York City with wallpaper made from photos taken in the south of France and antique furniture.

    Located at 181 Lafayette Street in SoHo, the Gohar World store showcases tableware products designed by sisters Laila and Nadia Gohar.
    The Gohar World store is lined with wallpaper created using designer Rafael Prieto’s photos”Gohar World is a tableware universe that embraces tradition, time, craft, and humour,” said the duo, who founded their brand in 2020.
    The space was designed by Rafael Prieto, founder and creative director of Savvy Studio, to capture the varied cultures and crafts involved in making the tableware.
    The wallpaper features peel-away elements that represent the “secret world” that Laila and Nadia Gohar have created”Because Laila and Nadia work with ateliers all over the world, from Egypt to Italy, Gohar World is inherently a brand that transports you to different places,” said Prieto. “Sometimes, even to your grandmother’s living room.”

    “So my idea when designing the store was to transport visitors to another world,” he added.
    An eclectic mix of antique domestic furniture and objects decorate the storeUsing photos he took in the south of France, the designer created a custom layered wallpaper with Wallpaper Projects to cover the walls.
    The imagery of crumbling and weathered stonework mixed with scenes from fields and woodland lends an otherworldly atmosphere to the store.
    Gohar World products are displayed in a variety of ways throughout the store”The outer layer shows monumental stone archways which are torn away to reveal a secret garden, representing Laila and Nadia’s secret Gohar World, which everyone is now invited to step into,” said the brand.
    An eclectic mix of antique domestic furniture pieces adds to the surreality of the space, with fabric ruffles surrounding table bases, and sections of Grecian-style columns supporting surfaces and acting as pedestals.

    “My work is a universe that I’ve created for myself” says Laila Gohar

    Some of the Gohar World tableware is presented in open cabinets or glass vitrines, while other pieces are laid out as table settings as if ready for dinner.
    The storefront is painted a warm cream colour, and white fabric is hung in the lower halves of the windows and glass doors.
    Laila and Nadia Gohar founded their brand to collaborate with global artisans and help preserve “dying and disappearing” craftsLaila is known for her creative food installations and projects that blend design, food and art, which she catalogues via her Instagram account Lailacooks.
    Partnering with Nadia to move into homeware design, the aim is to work with global artisans to help preserve “dying and disappearing” crafts, she told Dezeen in a recent interview.
    The store is located on Lafayette Street in New York’s SoHo neighbourhoodRecently, several brands have opted for a more surreal, eclectic aesthetic for their stores compared to the cohesive, monochrome approach that’s pervaded retail design over the past few years.
    The Awake NY store by Rafael de Cárdenas, the Boyy flagship in Milan by Thomas Poulsen and the Tons boutique in Pittsburgh by NWDS are all examples of this.
    The photography is by Clement Pascal.

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    Kelly Wearstler designs Ulla Johnson store to capture the “spirit of southern California”

    American interior designer Kelly Wearstler has paired a towering tree with speckled burl wood panelling and vintage furniture by Carlo Scarpa at the Ulla Johnson flagship store in West Hollywood.

    Wearstler created the light-filled, two-storey shop as the flagship Los Angeles location for Johnson’s eponymous clothing brand.
    Kelly Wearstler has designed the interiors for Ulla Johnson’s LA flagshipThe duo worked together to envisage the sandy-hued interiors, which Wearstler described as “something that really speaks to LA”.
    “A priority for me and Ulla was to ensure that the showroom encapsulated the quintessence of the West Coast, firmly grounded in both the surrounding environment and local community,” the designer told Dezeen.
    The “Californian idea of merging indoor and outdoor” permeates the interiorVisitors enter the store via a “secret” patio garden lined with desert trees and shrubs rather than on Beverly Boulevard, where the original entrance was.

    “This Californian idea of merging indoor and outdoor is evident from the moment you approach the store,” said Wearstler, who explained that her designs tend to nod to the “natural world”.
    Wearstler designed textured interiors to reflect Johnson’s collectionsInside, three interconnected, open-plan spaces on the ground floor were dressed with textured interiors that mirror Johnson’s similarly rich collections, which hang from delicate clothing rails throughout the store.
    Standalone jewellery display cases by Canadian artist Jeff Martin feature in the cavernous accessories space. Clad with peeling ribbons of grooved, caramel-coloured tiles, the cases echo floor-to-ceiling speckled burl wood panels.
    The mezzanine includes a double-height treeThe other living room-style area was designed as a sunroom with a pair of boxy 1970s Cornaro armchairs by modernist Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, as well as parquet flooring with Rosa Corallo stone inlay.
    “Vintage pieces are infused into all of my projects and I enjoy experimenting with the dialogues created by placing these alongside contemporary commissions,” explained Wearstler.
    A lumpy resin table features in an upstairs loungeThe largest of the three spaces, the mezzanine is illuminated by skylights and houses a double-height Brachychiton – a tree that also features in the designer’s own Malibu home.
    A chunky timber staircase leads to the upper level, where another lounge was finished in burnt orange and cream-coloured accents including a lumpy marbelised resin coffee table by LA-based designer Ross Hansen.
    “We collaborated with a variety of local artisans to imbue the spirit of Southern California into every facet of the project,” said Wearstler.

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    Ribbed plaster walls and textured flooring line a fitting room close by, which was created to evoke a residential feeling, according to the designer.
    “We wanted people to feel at home in the store so we prioritised warm and inviting elements,” she said.
    Another striking display cabinet made from wavy burl wood evokes “a touch of 1970s California nostalgia”.
    Wavy burl wood evokes “a touch of 1970s California nostalgia”The Ulla Johnson store is also used as a community space, which hosts rotating art installations, talks with guest speakers and other events.
    Wearstler recently designed an eclectic cocktail bar at the Downtown LA Proper hotel, which she previously created the wider interiors for. Her portfolio also features a 1950s beachfront cottage renovation in Malibu.
    The photography is by Adrian Gaut. 

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    Chongqing’s hidden factories inform interiors of Harmay beauty store

    Conveyor belts and cog-like display stands appear within this beauty store in Chongqing, China, designed by AIM Architecture, which takes cues from the city’s underground network of factories.

    Harmay is located at the heart of Chongqing inside a former shopping mall, with its entrance set below street level.
    A skylight punctures the ceiling of Harmay’s Chongqing store”The store is located underneath a large plaza with a multitude of steps going down into it,” explained Shanghai practice AIM Architecture.
    “So, to work with this unique spatial setting, we explored typologies of underground structures within the local context.”
    Products are displayed on conveyor belts, creating a factory-like settingA particular source of inspiration was the hundreds of bomb shelters that can be found beneath Chongqing, which were used to hide from Japanese air raids during world war two but have now been widely converted into shops, eateries and small-scale factories

    To imitate the enclosed feeling of these shelters, the practice used gypsum panels to form a dropped ceiling within the store, simultaneously concealing its exposed service ducts.
    These boards were also used to clad the store’s facade and have all been rendered in a brick-red hue on the interior.
    Some display stands were made to look like generatorsStainless steel was used to create a series of industrial-style display fixtures, nodding to the factories that now inhabit some of the shelters.
    This includes a long conveyor belt that snakes throughout the store’s main room with small grey crates placed at intervals along its surface, each containing different beauty products.
    Other stands look similar to machine cogsIn the store’s smaller peripheral rooms, products are showcased on gridded steel shelves and stands that were designed to look like generators or oversized machinery cogs.
    Simple strip lights were hung from the ceiling and a skylight was installed so that shoppers can look upwards to the outdoors, further enhancing the feeling of being underground.
    Gridded steel shelves were also been added to the storeAIM Architecture has designed a number of locations for beauty retailer Harmay, including an apothecary-style store in Hong Kong, and another in Hangzhou that resembles a 1970s office.
    This branch in Chongqing is shortlisted in the large retail interior category of the 2023 Dezeen Awards.
    Here, it is competing against other projects such as the Super Seed shop by FOG Architecture, which features more than 100 moving display boxes, and Kooo Architects’ Freitag store, which occupies an old textile factory.
    The photography is by Wen Studio. 

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