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FOG Architecture transforms Beijing courtyard house into fragrance store
CategoriesInterior Design

FOG Architecture transforms Beijing courtyard house into fragrance store

By Zarkon Group,

Chinese studio FOG Architecture has turned a courtyard house in Beijing into a flagship store for fragrance brand ToSummer with exposed wooden roof trusses and columns.

Located within a 500-square-meter Siheyuan complex, the store occupies  a 280-year-old courtyard house that are common in the region.

ToSummer Beijing storefront
The store is located at a restored courtyard house in Beijing

FOG Architecture renovated the building to reveal its original architecture, which features triangle-shaped timber roof trusses and series of wooden columns.

Layers of decorations added on the structure over the years as well as some of the interior walls were removed to expose the core wooden structure of the building as well as to create an open view of the space.

Wooden roof trusses of ToSummer Beijing
The studio exposed the wooden roof trusses and columns of the original building

“We ‘skimmed’ the building to expose its ‘skeleton’,” said the studio. The resultant ‘column field’ became the visual centre of gravity of the space as well as what defines its outline.”

“One of the challenges of the project had to do with the building’s old and new functions – more specifically, how to transform this venerable courtyard which has stood for nearly 300 years as a private residence into a commercial space that is neighbourly, communal, and all-inclusive,” it continued.

ToSummer Beijing
Product display areas are arranged around the courtyards

Glass windows were installed at the storefront, inviting visitors on the street to observe the complex layout of the old courtyard house, while glass walls were used to divide the space.

Product display areas were arranged around three courtyards of various sizes at the ground level of the complex, each connected by a bridging hallway, which the studio described as “symbol of graduating from the past to the present”.

On the first floor,  FOG Architecture remodelled the roof space to create a lounge area overlooking the building’s roofs.

These roofs were restored with the same grey brick tiles from the original building layered in the same density.

Rooftop view of ToSummer Beijing
Grey brick tiles from the original building are restored

A rain chain was hung from the roof connecting to a hundred-year-old well of the site. The well-preserved brickwork of the well echoes the delicate crafts of the roof tiles.

FOG Architecture was founded by Zheng Yu and Zhan Di and has offices in London, Shanghai and Chongqing.

Previously the studio has completed flagship stores for ToSummer in Beijing and Shanghai. Other recent retail project from the studio include Super Seed’s Hangzhou store featuring kinetic display.

The photography is by InSpace Architectural Photography.

Project credits:

Design team: Zou Dejing, Wu Leilei, Wang Shengqi, Tang Mo, Lei Ronghua, Jiang Lu, Huang Yingzi, Zhuang Shaokai, Sun Yuan, Zhang Xinyue, Chen Yixuan, Zheng Yining, Tao Xinwei, Cao Xiaomao, Hou Shaokai, Xiong Aijie, Khoon Choi (client representative), Zhan Di, Zheng Yu
Project management: Shen Qianshi (client representative)
Lighting Design: Zhang Xu, Liben Design
Structural engineering Consultant: Tao Xinwei, Wang Haibo
Construction drawing: BS Design
Contractor: Youlong Jinsheng

Reference

FOG Architecture creates “modern cave” for ToSummer’s Beijing store
CategoriesInterior Design

FOG Architecture creates “modern cave” for ToSummer’s Beijing store

By Zarkon Group,

Chinese studio FOG Architecture has added curved walls, mirrored surfaces and faux stone to the interiors of aromatherapy brand ToSummer’s flagship store in Beijing.


Located in Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun shopping village, FOG Architecture designed the 170-square-metre ToSummer store to recall the atmosphere of a cave.

ToSummer Living Room has faux stone walls
Top: a mirrored screen was placed at the entrance to the store. Above: the exterior of the store is covered in a textured faux stone

“The brand’s concrete requirement for this space design was a modern cave,” said FOG Architecture.

“We chose not to directly create the natural appearance of caves but, instead, presents the characteristic elements of material textures to inspire the sensory experience.”

Mirrored surfaces were used throughout ToSummer Living Room
The mirrored screen reflects passers-by and the interior of the store

The entrance to the store is marked by a large faux-stone wall and a mirrored screen, which leads visitors into the store.

The studio explained that the large mirrored screen was designed to draw passers-by into the store while referencing screens typically used in homes and domestic spaces.

A togo sofa is placed beside undulating walls at ToSummer Living Room
Curving walls were used along the perimeter of the store

“The curiosity of what is behind attracts the beholders to walk inside,” FOG Architecture co-founder Zheng Yu told Dezeen. “The surface of the screen is usually decorated with an illustration of natural scenery.”

“It is a metaphor of the space hidden behind. And this is the reason we placed a scaled up, mirror polished screen as the central spatial element. It illustrates beauty in a restrained manner.”

Mirrored furniture was used in the retail space at ToSummer Living Room
The store was divided into multiple zones

Natural-toned, undulating walls envelop the interior of the store and are illuminated by strip lighting set within the ceiling.

The interior was divided and zoned into a collection of small sections each with its own functions, housing retail space, exhibition space and installation areas.

A cream Togo by Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset, an off-white Playdough chair and coffee table by Karstudio as well as amorphous mirrors were placed throughout the store suggesting the idea of domestic space.

“The aim of the furniture is to convey a sense of the domestic,” said Yu. “That’s why we named this space a ‘Living Room’. A space that gives people a place to breathe in a busy and fast-moving shopping mall.”

The walls of the ToSummer Living Room were finished with white
A long metal island contrats with the softness of the store

Custom “timber rotten” chairs designed by British designer Max Lamb were also placed across the store and in niches formed by its curved walls.

“In a way, Max Lamb was also our main inspiration during the project,” Yu explained.

“The [chairs] lacquering was smooth, shiny and colourful while the foam is tortured, torn, scarred – combined the materiality itself gives me an illusion of heaviness similar to a piece of timber rotten through time, but it is lightweight and smooth and newly made.”

Light reflects of the metal surfaces
Shelves were built within the curving walls

An exhibition and retail space at the rear of the store has a series of shelves organised around a long reflective metal island that contrasts to the curving walls it is surrounded by.

Rectangular metal shelves were suspended along the undulating walls, drawing attention to the irregularity of the space while displaying products like artworks.

Shelves house the stores product at ToSummer Living Room
Two chairs designed by Max Lamb occupy the space

A metal cashier’s table was tucked behind a curving volume and mimics the shape of its walls, forming a rounded counter space that becomes an extension of the walls.

“[The store] transforms the original cave concept into spatial language, integrating it into this realistic space full of modern oriental feeling to present a delicate balance between commercial and art, domestic and public realm, natural and artificial,” said the studio.

Fragrance is pictured on a metal shelf
The display areas were designed to showcase product like artwork

FOG Architecture is a studio with offices in London, Shanghai and Chongqing founded by Yu and Zhan Di.

Other Beijing projects with curved walls include this avocado-green space age informed hair salon and this kindergarten with a rooftop playground by MAD Architects.

Photography is by Inspace.

Project credits:

Design principle: Zheng Yu, Zhan Di
Design team: Hou Shaokai, Zhou Chuyang, Xiong Aijie, Vince Choi and Fu Shidi
Lighting design: School of Architecture, Tsinghua University and One Lighting Associates Beijing
Furniture and installation design: DEFRONT and F.O.G.
Construction drawing: SU PIN
Construction team: Youlong Jinsheng Decoration Ltd.

Reference