Architect GreyOffice
Location Shanghai, China
Year 2018 Jan
Type Retail
Area 30 sqm
Photo Dirk Weiblen
GreyOffice is commissioned by the award-winning Chinese luggage case brand ITO to design their first retail in China. GreyOffice came up with a flexible system with typical details and material palate that adapt into different site conditions. Wrapped the shop boundary with an array of full height acrylic tubes, the shop front tries to evoke the pattern on the luggage case. The acrylic tubes also create different degrees of transparency and reflection of the luggage case. They are placed into stainless-steel slots that are lit up from both the top and the bottom.
Inside the shop, stainless steel, anodized aluminum and white terrazzo create a simple and greyish background so that the colors of the products stand out and become the focus in the space. The reception counter is made of stainless-steel tubes that are in the same diameter to the acrylic tubes, also echoing the texture on the luggage case.
Since the shops have limited space, a continuous rack organizes the shelving system along the wall made of acrylic tubes, which pushes the product display on the edge of the space and leave the central space easier for circulation. Continuous stainless-steel tubes goes horizontally and structure the shelfing system. In order to create different angles for display, the continuous rack turns 45 degrees in some places.
The acrylic tubes are very flexible in making boundaries. The design is very easy to fit in any given space, which is suitable for the brand’s retail expansion strategy. GreyOffice and ITO have finished the design phase for the second and third shop: one pop-up shop standing in the middle of a shopping mall courtyard, the other at the corner with a curved façade, both of which will utilize the acrylic tube system (see plans).
