Multi-brand cosmetics retailer HARMAY has cleverly used architecture as a communication tool for its offerings, opening design-led retail spaces in first-tier cities across China, and its latest outpost in Hangzhou is no exception. The company once again picked a striking location, the recently opened OōEli complex, a large-scale urban development project designed by acclaimed Italian architect Renzo Piano, comprising a collection of mixed-use buildings surrounding a lush landscaped urban park with a large pond. The HARMAY store, situated on the second floor of Building 9, measures a spacious 1,382 sqm. (14,876 sq.ft.) and features an interior design by Shanghai-based architecture practice and longtime collaborator AIM Architecture. Taking cues from the rigid grid façades that mark the prestigious complex, the various settings, organised around an enclosed core, ooze a very matching 1970s office allure.
Floor-to-ceiling high curtain wall windows are paired with prerequisite office ceiling panels as far as the eye can see. The meticulously crafted aesthetic is further boosted by an open floor plan, which does justice to the voluminous space, and an almost mathematical configuration of desks, cabinets and occasional meeting room. Pops of bright colours, fluffy carpeting and different textures break the austerity while infinitely extending mirror which goes straight through the core adds a fantastical optical illusion to the shopping experience. Repetitive round windows allow shoppers a glimpse of an internal warehouse, a signature element of HARMAY stores. The new HARMAY store carries the brand’s own line of cosmetics fragrances, but also a selection of products from a wide range of exclusive foreign brands, including Dermalogica, Botanist, Orezza, Rose et Marius and SG79|STHLM.
HARMAY
OōEli, 398 Tianmushan Lu, Building 9 (Gudang Village)
310013 Hangzhou
Telephone: +86 400 8906878
Daily 10am-10pm
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