Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2020
Chengdu Gift Retail Space
by Hong Li
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: Li Hong Design Studio
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 19,195
- Verification code 8692943EFD · Verify this award
About Chengdu Gift Retail Space
Chengdu Gift is a retail space designed for the display and sale of local gift products. The interior covers 137 square meters and is shaped around the idea of a gift box that is about to be opened. The main frame is a domed structure formed by 320 white metal plates cut in the shape of ginkgo leaves, a plant closely linked to the city of Chengdu. The metal plates are assembled onto arched steel pipes, a method chosen to suit a short construction period. Transparent glass plates act as carriers for the gifts on display.
Situated within the contemporary discourse of experiential retail architecture, Hong Li's acclaimed Chengdu Gift Retail Space exemplifies a sophisticated synthesis of spatial poetry and commercial function that has garnered recognition from the A' Design Award program. The installation transforms conventional retail expectations through its remarkable ceiling and wall treatment, where thousands of individually mounted elements abstracting the venerable ginkgo leaf create an immersive botanical canopy that envelops visitors in organic geometry. This design decision references the ginkgo tree's profound cultural significance as a symbol of longevity, resilience, and living heritage, while its execution demonstrates masterful understanding of parametric variation, light modulation, and atmospheric effect. The chromatic strategy achieves remarkable sophistication through studied restraint: the predominantly white envelope establishes spatial continuity and ethereal lightness, while the jade-toned floor tiles ground the experience in material richness suggestive of precious stone and flowing water. The rose-tinted display cases introduce gentle warmth without disrupting the overall cool serenity, creating intimate zones for merchandise contemplation within the larger spatial narrative. The three descending golden disc fixtures serve both functional and symbolic purposes, their graduated spacing creating rhythmic punctuation along the central axis while their warm metallic presence suggests celestial bodies or sacred objects within a contemplative grove. The designer demonstrates acute sensitivity to the phenomenology of retail experience, understanding that contemporary consumers seek meaningful spatial encounters that transcend mere transaction. The singular illuminated threshold at the composition's terminus transforms commercial circulation into something approaching pilgrimage, inviting visitors to move through accumulated beauty toward promise of continued discovery. How might such environments reshape our understanding of commerce as cultural practice?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- At present, many designs attach importance to the presentation of wall, ground and top surface, but in this case, the designer subverts the tradition, uses a kind of assembly technology to shape the pattern and form, and tries to explain different emotions through the spatial relationship. The ginkgo leaf element runs through the whole indoor exhibition hall, and is combined with Chengdu symbols to form the city's business card.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The project covers a total of 137 square meters. The large frame of the exhibition hall is a dome space composed of white metal sheets shaped by ginkgo leaves, which not only is full of Chengdu's urban cultural characteristics, but also gives more imaginative space to customers who come here.
- Tags
- Interior, Commercial, Shop, Chengdu, Gift, Box, Natural, Elegant, Cultural, Ginkgo Leaf
- Production Technology
- Basically only two kinds of materials are used in the whole interior, one is the stainless steel plate of ginkgo leaf shape, which is mainly used for space stitching to create the exhibition space of Chengdu culture. The second is the glass transparent plate, which mainly appears as the carrier of all gifts, making the product more prominent and high-grade.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest difficulty of this case is that the construction period is short, and Party A requires that it must be completed within 28 days. Therefore, the designer adopts the assembly method to fix 320 pieces of metal pieces in the shape of Ginkgo leaves on the arch shaped steel pipe, and create a hole shaped exhibition hall of Ginkgo leaves.
- Project Duration
- The project started in May 1, 2019 in Chengdu and finished in May 30, 2019 in Chengdu.
- Operation Flow
- For this project, in order to let the design be completed as soon as possible, the project team carries out a lot of lofting and comparison between the surface layer and the curve on the construction site, so as to ensure that the visual reduction degree of the work from the effect map to the real picture can basically reach more than 95%.
- Research
- Faced with such a propositional project as "Chengdu Gift", the designer needs to find some outstanding elements of this city, and refine them to represent it. Through the transformation of the prototype of the ordinary gift box, and the integration of Ginkgo and other local cultural elements, finally, such a special design came into being in this case.
- Inspiration
- The gift itself may be light as a goose feather, but sent from afar, it conveys deep feeling. Designers hope to present the expression of this emotion through the architectural space. The building of the independent pavilion is designed around the concept of box, which is about to be opened. It seems to bring mystery and surprise to people. Ginkgo leaf is an indispensable part of feelings for people who live in Chengdu. So this element runs through the whole interior exhibition space.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Qiang Dou, Display Area, 2019.
Image #2: Photographer Qiang Dou, Corridor, 2019.
Image #3: Photographer Qiang Dou, Reception Hall, 2019.
Image #4: Photographer Qiang Dou, Resting Area, 2019.
Image #5: Photographer Qiang Dou, Entrance, 2019. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to Hong Li, 2019.
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