HARMAY Shenzhen Store | AIM Architecture

Nearly 50 years ago, Shenzhen was little more than a market town, evolving today into one of the largest and most important cities in southeast China. Continuous urbanization and development have rendered construction sites a symbol to the urban landscape. Building parts, stacked materials and interior systems, unwrapped, and waiting to be assembled stage themselves as if temporary art installations, a tribute to the honesty and brutality of the city’s inner belly as living machine.

The HARMAY Shenzhen site is part of a new large-scale commercial area within this machine, a deep and narrow space that connects the outdoor public area with the inner commercial space. Its length reveals a natural linear organization with a depth that draws magnetizing energy, driving visitors into further activation. The store’s design language is derived from the city’s industrious qualities. Where many stores promote the image of future perfection, HARMAY Shenzhen embraces the tension of ‘work in progress’ to create a new definition of urban spectacle whilst asserting in its own design philosophy of warehouse culture.

Complex piping systems are used as a central focus, elevating them to the status of object, like capillaries under the smooth skin of the mega-structure. Galvanized steel pipes wrap 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 interior journey divides into three natural stages. In the first, pipes wrap the space and transform suggestively into functional furniture, thus no longer independent objects but 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 area, mobile trolleys like factory carts imply the presence of goods in transport and circulation and bring a rich rhythm to the existing architectural elements. In the final stage, the order of repetition and tight spaces re-emphasizes the experience of the HARMAY warehouse. As the end point of the experience, the cashier is no longer a subsidiary hidden existence, but emphasized by the densely extended pipes to celebrate and strengthen the integrity of the entire journey bringing visitors a rich and varied experience.

HARMAY Shenzhen is AIM Architecture’s 14th project across 9 cities in PRC.

 
About AIM Architecture
AIM is a collective of passionate, international individuals. Founded by Belgian and Dutch architects Wendy Saunders and Vincent de Graaf in 2005, AIM brings together architecture with interior and product design to create wholly integrated products and ideas. Headquartered in Shanghai and with offices in both Antwerp and Chicago, AIM is a global studio with local feeling.

The approach is deliberate and focused. Context is paired with concept where the fine line between vision and practicality is explored. The results are unique spaces with powerful narrative, refined details, built-in love of materials and passion for place and purpose.

Looking at cities with fresh eyes, the studio’s community centric design pushes to enhance the vibrancy of a place and forge stronger connections with its people. AIM aims to activate and create positive impacts on cities through hospitality, retail, cultural and office projects.

About HARMAY
Founded in 2008, HARMAY is a Chinese cosmetic brand known as an innovator in the industry. The company started as a cosmetics e-merchant on Alibaba’s Taobao and in 2017, HARMAY unveiled its first brick-and-mortar store using an architectural design quite unique among other retail cosmetic brands.

HARMAY Shenzhen is part of AIM Architecture’s on-going collaboration with HARMAY, a design partnership that has helped to define a disruptive language in China’s architectural retail landscape.

 
HARMAY SHENZHEN, FACT SHEET
Client: HARMAY
Location: Excellence INTOWN Shopping Centre Shen Zhen
GFA: 485 sqm
Completion: 07.2022
Design Scope: Interior and facade design
Design Principals: Wendy Saunders，Vincent de Graaf
Team Leaders: Jerry Guo, Simon Huang
Interior Team: Emilio Wang, Hu Dongkai, Jo Jiao, Jiao yan, Song Jie
General Contractor: Shanghai Hengpin Decoration Design Engineering Co., Ltd.
Display Supplier: Shanghai Yueben Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd.
Main Materials: Galvanized steel, Stainless Steel, Terrazzo, Hollow concrete block
Photography: Wen Studio, Bowen Gu
Copywriter: Sima Bibi, Carmen Xu

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半个世纪以前，深圳还是一座小县城，如今，它已发展成为中国东南部最大、最发达的城市之一。持续的城市化和飞速发展造就了一片片繁忙的建筑工地，成为城市景观的象征。在这片景观里，散布着工程设备、元件，堆放着材料，以及暴露着的建筑内部系统，它们也是临时的艺术装置，向坦诚、粗野并有着强大生命力的城市机器致敬。
HARMAY話梅深圳店位于这台机器内一片新开发的大型商业区，是一个连接室外公共区域和室内商业区域的狭长空间，呈现出自然的线性组织方式。戏剧化的进深增强了空间的吸引力，引导游客向店铺更深处探索。空间设计语言源自深圳不懈奋斗的城市精神。在许多品牌店铺都试图营造完美形象的当下，話梅深圳店选择拥抱“进行中”这种富有张力的状态，在遵循仓储文化设计理念的同时，重新定义现实中的城市奇观。
AIM采用复杂的管道系统作为店铺空间的核心元素，强化它对空间的串联作用，就像巨型结构光滑表皮下的毛细血管一样。镀锌钢管沿着内墙延伸，形成空间的边界；管道末端通过密集和分散的排布方式，形成交互界面。平行的管道系统之间创造了一个沉浸式的室内立面，而延伸至室外的管道则以恣意大胆的姿态，“入侵”公共空间，以诙谐的、实验性的语言，与其他邻接的店铺的沉稳纯粹形成鲜明对比。
空间内部的旅程分为三个自然阶段。首先，管道系统包裹着空间，并被潜移默化为功能性的家具，它们不再是独立的物体，而是一个与整个空间关联的系统。管道家具与品牌标志性的绿色结合，这一细节的设计灵感最初来自工厂中普遍应用的货架。在中段区域，像工厂台车一样的移动手推车装载并传输着产品和货物，为静态的建筑元素带来丰富的韵律。在最后的阶段，重复的秩序和紧凑的空间再次强调了話梅店铺营造的仓储式空间体验。作为购物旅程的终点，收银台不再是隐蔽的附属空间，而是通过密集延伸的管道勾勒出鲜明的存在感，成就一段完整的空间之旅，为到访者带来丰富精彩的购物体验。
話梅深圳是AIM恺慕建筑为話梅在中国大陆境内9座城市设计完成的第14家店铺。

关于AIM恺慕建筑
AIM（恺慕）建筑设计事务所，由比利时建筑师Wendy Saunders与荷兰建筑师Vincent de Graaf于2005年共同创立，拥有一支对设计充满激情的国际化团队。AIM的项目范围涵盖综合建筑、室内、及产品设计，在理念和实践中追求高度统一性。AIM总部位于上海，并在安特卫普和芝加哥均设有办公室，是一家兼具本土意识和国际视野的全球工作室。
追求严谨而专注的设计， 聚焦每个项目的独特性。将设计理念融入环境肌理，平衡设计愿景与可操作性间恰到好处的尺度。AIM操刀的空间拥有强烈叙事与高辨识度，大胆、有趣、富有韧性。项目兼顾高度落地性和精致的细节。探索每一种材料的可能性，全力以赴地投入每一次创造的热情之中。
以全新的眼光看待城市，事务所以社区为中心的设计推动增进当地的活力，并与人们建立更为牢固的联系。AIM旨在通过酒店、零售、文化和办公类项目激活城市并产生积极影响。

关于HAYMAY話梅
成立于2008年，是一家被赞誉为行业创新翘楚的中国美妆品牌。公司成立最初是阿里巴巴旗下淘宝的化妆品电商，2017年話梅推出其首家线下实体店铺，独特的建筑设计使其从其他零售美妆品牌中脱颖而出。
話梅深圳店是AIM（恺慕）建筑设计事务所与HARMAY話梅持续合作的一部分。作为设计合作伙伴，話梅帮助一起定义了中国建筑零售行业中颠覆性的设计语言。

HARMAY SHENZHEN, FACT SHEET
业主：話梅
项目地点：深圳卓越中心
建筑面积：485 平方米
建成时间：2022.07
设计范围：商铺外立面及室内
设计总监：Wendy Saunders，Vincent de Graaf
项目负责人：郭鹏，黄骁鸣
室内团队：松洁，焦月圆，胡东凯，Emilio Wang，焦琰
施工团队：上海恒品装饰设计工程有限公司
道具供应：上海跃奔装饰工程有限公司
主要材料：镀锌铁管，喷砂不锈钢，水磨石，空心砖
摄影：Wen Studio, 顾博文
撰文：Sima Bibi, 许嘉