In the retail expansion scheme of HARMAY, it would be hard to imagine Shenzhen to be excluded. The affluent city just across the border from Hong Kong has firmly ranked among China‘s first-tier cities for quite a few years, and it’s known to be home to a demographic of forward and in-the-know consumers. Needless to say, HARMAY and its multi-brand offerings in cosmetics and fragrances resonate well here. The retailer has secured a 485 sqm. (5,221 sq.ft.) unit at Bonjour Centre, an upscale shopping centre in the city’s Futian district. For the interior design, Shanghai-based architecture practice and longtime collaborator AIM Architecture was tapped to create a fitting design. And well, quite fitting it has become. Taking ample cues from not only the industrial legacy that Shenzhen has only recently created, but also its continuously changing urban fabric, a new definition of warehouse culture has emerged. The façade, captured by a myriad of faux metal utility pipes, signals the chosen aesthetic for HARMAY shop interior from afar. Galvanised steel pipes meander around the space to form a boundary while terminal tubes scatter and gather to shape an interactive interface.
The facade’s opening finds its way between two parallel pipes to create an immersive entrance while others extend unapologetically into the public space in humorous, experimental contrast to the purity of the adjacencies. The pipes wrap the space and transform into functional furniture, thus no longer independent objects but becoming an integrated system linked within the entire space, lined in the brand’s signature green tone, inspired originally by industrial factory racks. In the middle section, mobile trolleys like factory carts imply the presence of goods in transport and circulation and bring a rich rhythm to the existing architectural elements. Lastly, there’s a part of the retail space which flaunts the order of repetition and tight spaces, highlighting the experience of the HARMAY warehouse. The setting boasts densely extended pipes to celebrate and strengthen the integrity of the entire journey bringing visitors a rich and varied experience. The new HARMAY store carries pop-up store carries the brand’s own line of cosmetics fragrances, but also a selection of products from over 300 exclusive foreign brands, including Dermalogica, Tom Ford, Botanist, LOEWE, Rose et Marius and Sisley.
HARMAY
Bonjour Centre, 2030 Jintian Lu, Shop N119-N122 (Futian)
518017 Shenzhen
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
