The pandemic has only temporarily slowed down China‘s economy, showing once again strong growth rates, and along with it, flourishing retail scenes in the country’s top-tier cities such as Beijing. The city’s Sanlitun district has traditionally been a veritable fashion playground, and it’s here where yet another new boutique lures young trophy hunters to its doorstep. Called Double Boo, it occupies a 150 sqm. (1,614 sq.ft.) unit on the ground floor of the glass-and-concrete 3.3 Building, home to a cluster of independent boutiques. Beijing-based architecture and design practice Atelier Tree was tapped to create the interior design and came up with a setting inspired by the Möbius Loop, a mathematical model – and a rather elegant one at that – which was first discovered in the mid-19th century. The retail space features two support columns at the centre, and an ∞-shaped layered Möbius loop has been created, crafted from aluminium and suspended at different heights, to wrap around them.
Needless to say, the structure very much defines the spatial context of the Double Boo boutique. As such, the ceiling is cut out along the projection shape of the outer contour of the ∞-shaped loop, showing a myriad of utility pipes, while on the ground, curved partitions counter the dynamic with a swirling pattern of their own. The loop also dictates the flow of shoppers who first walk along the outer contours, and then gradually, into the inside, traversing two loops, and then from the inside back to the outside again. Sleek steel clothing racks are attached to the aforementioned partitions or dangle from the ceiling, aligned with the curves of the loop. The sales counter, three fitting rooms and storage room are all situated in one corner, flanked by two display units and a seating arrangement where shoppers can sit back. The new Double Boo boutique carries a curated range of premium Chinese and South Korean womenswear labels.
Double Boo
3.3 Building, 33 Sanlitun Lu, Shop 1055 (Sanlitun)
100020 Beijing
Publishers Note
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