The soui. boutique caters to a sizeable following from across Seoul with alluring vintage designer offerings, and it has been doing so for quite some time. But in an ambitious move, the retailer first launched a brand new menswear brand, dubbed Hatchingroom, and now, a dedicated flagship store has been inaugurated. The retailer tapped local architecture and design practice H OFFICE to create the interior design of a lofty 144 sqm. (1,550 sq.ft) basement space of a modern building with a brick façade. Despite being underground and deprived of daylight, the space is airy and, yes indeed, light thanks to various fiercely backlit ceiling cut-outs that give the illusion of an open roof. Softer light has been used to highlight some of Hatchingroom‘s store sections. The floor is clad in a grid of granite tiles that provided configurational guidance and resulted in various walls that surround a central space and also flexibly divide each area, creating a private shopping experience within each of the walls.
The concealing aspect adds a sense of exploration while shopping. The granite tiles, sourced from a quarry at Pocheon, a city northeast of the South Korean capital, are processed by the traditional method of dabbed finish to give it a weathered look, and also cover the lower section of each of the shop walls. And speaking of which, all walls and built-in furniture were crafted according to a 600 x 600 mm stone standard, resulting in a meticulous regularity and strict moderation. The eye for detail at the Hatchingroom store also extends to the furnishings and fixtures. The clothing racks are made of vegetable leather and unprocessed metal, while the mirror and shelf in the central space were inspired by a traditional Korean folding screen and traditional architecture. The new Hatchingroom flagship store carries the brand’s full range of men’s apparel, bags, and shoes, in addition to a carefully curated range of jewellery pieces and home objects.
Hatchingroom
14 Seoulsup 6-gil, Level B1 (Seongdong-gu)
04768 Seoul
Telephone: +82 50 713078352
Daily 1pm-8pm
Publishers Note
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