AIM Architecture takes cues from 1970s offices for Hangzhou cosmetics store

Shanghai studio AIM Architecture has transformed the second floor of a business park in Hangzhou, China, into a store that resembles a 1970s office for cosmetics brand Harmay.

The studio reimagined the space as a retro-looking office complete with desk chairs, phoney bookshelves for makeup items and boardroom tables for other cosmetic products.

AIM Architecture wanted the Hangzhou cosmetics store to look like an office

AIM Architecture (AIM) chose a colour palette of muted yellows, oranges and browns that were popular during the 1970s for the 1,382 square-metre space.

This retro colour scheme is paired with a woollen carpet by German brand Findeisen, frosted-glass sliding "meeting room" doors and contrasting lime green shelving.

1970s browns, yellows and oranges make the store feel retro

Other office touches throughout the two-floor store include bookshelves, cushioned stools and industrial structural columns.

Rows of yellow desks similar to ones you might find in an office from the time period have been used to display the brand's cosmetics, including perfumes and make-up. Extra stock has been stored inside the desk drawers.

Porthole windows give customers a glimpse of the internal transit warehouse that is also housed in the building complex, while mirrored walls in the store's centre are designed to transport customers away from reality.

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AIM Architecture adds slide-like staircase to Shanghai store In the Park

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The studio wanted the shop to be a tribute to working life and to help customers realise the benefit of in-store shopping experiences versus purchasing online.

"We really wanted to use this concept to celebrate daily life and see the beauty in it," AIM founder Wendy Saunders told Dezeen.

"Here in China, the reality is that people shop online for everything, anywhere, anytime," she said. "As physical shopping is just for fun, we wanted to create a colourful version of it."

Cosmetic products are displayed on pretend bookshelves

As well as paying homage to the specific decade, the studio wanted the store to echo the surrounding offices within the mixed-use business park.

The store is located in the recently opened OōEli complex, a large-scale urban development project designed by Pritzker-winning Italian architect Renzo Piano.

A mirrored walkway runs through the store's centre

"Sometimes the building dominates and inspires the site you get to work in: it sets the mood," explained Saunders. "This site was one of those."

"Creating an 'old fashioned' physical retail experience in an actual office space just seemed a fun way to translate this duality of space and time," she added.

Other recently completed stores in Shanghai include MVRDV's design for a Bulgari store which took cues from the glamour of art deco architecture, and a clothing shop called Canal St designed by Sò Studio to look like the New York subway.

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AIM Architecture adds slide-like staircase to Shanghai store In the Park

Shanghai studio AIM Architecture has inserted a red staircase that resembles a children's slide in the middle of this clothing store to create a playful interior.

Named In the Park, the Shanghai store was designed to reflect the playfulness of the clothing brand while drawing on the layout of traditional Chinese parks.

AIM Architecture wanted to create a playful interior for the fashion brand

AIM Architecture wanted to transform what was once an inaccessible three-storey space in the middle of a busy shopping mall into something that felt interconnected and coherent.

The most prominent feature is a striking 4.2-metre-tall staircase made from fibreglass and rubber that resembles a children's playground slide or a skating bowl.

A striking fibreglass staircase forms the centre piece of the store

"The staircase is as inspired by a suburban skate bowl as much as it is an austere garden," Wendy Saunders, AIM's founder and principal architect, told Dezeen.

"We wanted to make the stairs more than just a way up but an experience in itself and at the same time breaking the high climb for the customers by adding an extra floor."

Clothes, magazines and homeware items are displayed around columns

Red steps snake from the mezzanine to a halfway platform and continue on to the ground floor, connecting all levels inside the store.

"Making a connection between all the floors is an important part of the spatial identity," said Saunders. "The original site was three storeys high with no connection and a forest of columns, making parts of the space unreachable."

Steel shelving units contrast the bold staircase

While shoppers entering In the Park are immediately confronted by the staircase, the brand's clothes, shoes and other homeware items are spread out sporadically around the space.

On the first floor, a record store has been tucked around a corner out of sight.

Customers are taken on a winding journey to discover items

According to the designers, this echoes the arrangement of landscaping in China's parks and gardens.

"We were strongly inspired by traditional Chinese parks, where winding paths lead the visitor to secluded areas," said Saunders.

Several other decorative elements alongside the main staircase were used to contribute to the playful look.

Aluminium shelves informed by park benches wrap around "tree like" columns throughout the store. Outside, bamboo chairs and a large oval seat surround a bed of plants.

Red rubber furnishings create a sense of cohesion throughout

Playful hues and shapes in the store are set against minimal furnishings such as the steel shelving units and the muted grey colour palette.

Industrial, untouched pillars around the store also contrast the cheerful centre piece, giving the interior a more balanced feel.

A minimalist record shop is hidden around a corner

This isn't the first time AIM has revamped part of a retail mall, having previously studio designed a lobby and a shopping centre inside Fuxing Plaza in Shanghai.

AIM also transformed an atrium in the Xintiandi mall in Shanghai by adding a number of natural materials and plants.

Photography is byWen Studio.

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AIM Architecture turns shopping mall atrium into plant-filled plaza

Shopping centres don't have to "bright, white and shiny" according to AIM Architecture, which has transformed the Xintiandi mall in Shanghai by adding natural materials and plants.

The previously underused atrium has been reimagined in the spirit of a garden plaza, with wooden surfaces, plants hanging down from the balconies and natural light filtering in from above.

A wooden trellis structure now frames the atrium

Architect Wendy Saunders, co-principal of AIM Architecture, said the aim was to bring nature into a type of space that is typically very sterile.

"The sheer scale and amount of shopping malls in Asia can be overwhelming," she told Dezeen. "Materials are usually very bright, white and shiny, and lack any natural feeling or environment."

"Here, we tried to defy that," she said. "Materials were chosen to enhance the feeling of an oasis."

Plants feature throughout the interior

AIM's first move was to open up a skylight that had been partially covered over. This means that natural light can now filter into the Xintiandi atrium from all around.

A wooden trellis structure was installed around the three floors of galleries that surround the atrium. This acts a support structure for large planting boxes, which are filled with tropical greenery.

Planting boxes are mounted on castors for flexibility

There are also some larger planters in the middle of the atrium, containing a mix of trees, leafy plants and succulents. These boxes are set on castors, so they can be easily moved around if necessary.

"Originally we wanted huge trees in the atrium planters," said Saunders, "but with the weight, and also the need for flexibility for the plaza, it made sense to reduce to a more manageable size."

Groups of rugs create smaller zones within the space

AIM designed these planters, as well as a series of bench seats that are styled to feel like park furniture. They are arranged over four groups of natural-fibre carpets, which help to break down the space into zones.

"It was important for us to create areas where people could sit and not feel lost in the space," added Saunders.

The result is a space that can function as a destination in its own right, rather than simply as a transition space between the entrance and the shops.

Saunders hopes the space will become equally as vibrant as the pedestrianised streets that Xintiandi is known for.

Bench seats are designed to feel like park furniture

"As an architect and resident of Shanghai, a city of 25 million, I am always very conscious of the fact that the city should have more places where people can get away of the hustle and bustle of city life," she said.

"If designed well, office lobbies and shopping mall atriums could become a new form of semi-public space."

Tropical plants hang down from planting boxes on the upper levels

Saunders leads AIM Architecture alongside Vincent de Graaf. Other projects by the studio include the apothecary-style Harmay beauty store in Hong Kong and Ruff Well Water Resort in Sichuan.

Photography is by Wen Studio.

Project credits

Client: SHUI ON
Design principals: Wendy Saunders, Vincent de Graaf
Project manager: Cindy Xu
Project architect: Davide Signorato
Interior team: Mavis Li, Ning Cai
FFE Team: Peichin Lee

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pixel tables and coconut bricks populate AIM architecture’s shanghai exhibition

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