CONNAIS TOI Office | OFFHAND PRACTICE

CONNAIS TOI studio focuses on exploring the boundaries of aesthetics, aiming to share the aesthetic joy with all. The founder believes the term “Fashion” should be all-encompassing. They should be non-interfering yet complement each other.
It is an office cum an appointment-based gallery. The L-shaped site has its own pros and cons - full height windows for two internal façades and greeneries on one of the facades; the short side of it is the ceiling height below the site’s structural beams is about 2.5m, and there are two structural columns splitting the open space into small segments.
Our client wishes to have minimal walls in the space, keep the space as open as possible while retaining the privacy for its office area. How to break the existing single boring configuration in this typical office area, make the space vivid and have a sense of rhythm within it; how to emerge the brand’s beliefs into the space are the challenges for this project.
There are two main entrances for CONNAIS TOI. One of the entrances is directly beside the stairs and elevators, and the second one sits at the end of the axis of the public corridor, with greenery at the end. We deliberately chose the second as the main entrance to the office area, leaving the first entrance as the back door for the packing area. How to evoke a sense of mystery and curiosity through the greenery axis and the display window is the concern at this point.
We take the two columns in the centre as the starting point for the design and place three rows of array columns according to the site’s condition, camouflaging the two existing columns within it. These columns naturally divide the space into the office on the north and the gallery on the south. The two functions are separated on the plan but are visually connected coherently. We preciously controlled the width between each column, leaving it as a corridor or display space in the central area.
These columns redefined the original unobstructed window view, creating various openings. Light and shadow of the leaves interleaving blur the boundary between the outdoor and indoors. A 'pillar forest' with mottled light and shadows rises in the original space. Once the customers step into it, they can seamlessly generate their own route and explore space.

Photography: Hu Yanyun