ILO Living Showroom

“Reversing the Void” - ILO Living Showroom by Yatofu Creatives
- Yatofu casts the warmth and light of the Nordics into a neglected bunker to create a welcoming retail space in the centre of Shanghai.

With its name taken from the Finnish word for joy, ILO Living is a retail brand founded with the notion of spreading the joy of the Nordics through the sharing of Nordic design and lifestyle. Together with the client, Yatofu Creatives created a holistic brand environment that was inspired by the beauty of subtleties and joy, working closely with the founder to conceive everything from the brand identity to the design of the retail space.

ILO Living’s first shop and showroom can be found on Wukang Road, a popular shopping destination in Shanghai. The space itself is located inside a former bunker – a cold, dingy, and subterranean concrete void. In converting the bunker, Yatofu sought solutions to invite warmth and cast brightness into the dark and neglected space. A palette of warm and natural materials was chosen along with bold and fresh hues to transform the space into a vibrant and cheerful retail space, creating a memorable experiential contrast to the coldness and darkness associated with its former purpose.

Upon approaching the space, a dramatic terracotta-coloured entrance first greets the visitors, serving as a portal into the bright and effervescent interior of the shop space. A highly pigmented and luminous hand-stained yellow wood veneer was selected to serve as the eye-catching focus material in the main room, covering the large voluminous shelving blocks that punctuate the structure of the space. The secondary room in the back was given a more soothing and cosier vibe by switching out the bright yellow veneer for natural wooden panelling. A muted mint-green micro-cement flooring was applied throughout the space to bring cohesiveness as well as adding playfulness to the overall atmosphere.

With minimal intervention made on the original site and its thick structural walls, the retail display system consists of modular furniture elements inserted into the space as monolithic blocks. Paired with the large curvaceous sculptural forms in brushed aluminium, the overall space is kept simple and open, but with an artistic flair and offering plenty of opportunities for product displays.

ILO Living’s retail concept brings warmth, light, and energy to a previously forgotten space. It showcases the influential effects of approaching spatial design through the bold use of colours and materials as an interpretation of emotion.

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Project Name: ILO Living Showroom
Design Concept: Reversing the Void
Interior Design: Yatofu Creatives
Branding Design: Yatofu Creatives & Tino Nyman
Project Type: Retail, Multi-brand Showroom
Location: Shanghai, China
Completion Date: December, 2021
GFA: 58 sqm
Design Team: Angela Lindahl, Yihan Xiang, Sheen Tao
Interior Photography: Wen Studio
Branding Photography: Aleksi Tikkala
Branding Stylist: Piia Emilia

Materials & Finishes:
Hand-stained wood veneer
Oak Veneer
Brushed aluminium
Micro-cement
Genuine Leather