SAY ARCHITECTS designed ENSHADOWER’s concept store.
New interpretation of a 10 decades old building
Established in 2012, ENSHADOWER® is a functional clothing brand that acquired inspiration from fixed-gear bicycle sport at the earliest time in the domestic, Say Architects was commissioned to design the first offline store located in Nanyu street of Hangzhou. Review the past decade, a developing golden era for both the brand and Hangzhou City.
Say introduced the industrial materials used in the city’s construction and starts a conversation across time between the brand and the site.
Explore the interface of Hangzhou
At the initial establishment of ENSHADOWER, it focused on riding costumes of fixed-gear bicycle sport. The fixed-gear bicycle has single direction pedal, wheels and pedals are always in a fixed state, mail carriers of the city used them for delivering in the old days. Afterwards, it developed into a fashionable sport for young people. Say started the concept of cycling around the city.
Designers selected some common but not memorable building materials from the city texture, including concrete, channel glass, perforated aluminium plate, rhombus aluminium net etc., and collaged them together into an attractive facade.
The prominent architecture is a two-floor building. The first floor is for coffee and clothing exhibition, and the second floor is a multi-functional exhibition space to cope with the demand of the brand to use the offline store. The facades correspond to each functional program with light transmittance.
Balance over time
Say Architects kept the wooden structure of the original architecture, which was re-polished and painted. The single direction natural lighting reveals the beauty of texture. Designers used 36 aluminium honeycomb plates as suspended ceiling between the beam positions.
The light, firefighting, and HVAC equipment hide above the transparent suspended ceiling. The light evenly spreads in the exhibition hall through diffuse reflection. It seeks a kind of balance between modern and tradition.
Display System ‘ Twelve ‘
A fixed-gear bicycle has 19 parts joint. Each modularized part has powerful compatibility, which significantly increases the possibility of refit, while the designed details of the brand on the costume all manifest its seeking of functionality. Designers customized a set of exhibit system “twelve” for the brand, which covers functions of suspending, object placement, exhibition, lamplight etc., based on the property of the product.
The system is just composed of 12 mould available parts. Their intercombination could form tens of thousands of variable exhibition ways. Some parts could also be used as a cantilever arm of the cafe bar at the same time.
Co-exist
Say kept the original structure as much as possible. It is open, and like a mini-square, the spotlight module group hidden in the wooden frame could also cope with different activities. The bottom is a modularized display case composed of an industrial aluminium profile. The outer side serves as a functional display case for hidden light belts while the inner side encloses into a storage space. Modernization process materials formed a mutual symbiotic relationship with the old building.
The Southern Song Imperial Street has always been a crucial commercial street for Hangzhou, the facade of buildings along the streets reflects the evolution of cultural over centries. Say want to refresh the commercial atomosphere of the street with a touch of story-telling.
Location: Hangzhou, China
Client: Enshadower
Area: 174 sqm.
Design: Say Architects
Partners in Charge: Yan Zhang, Jianan Shan
Team: Ziyi Sun, Sheng Hang, Ruinan Wang, Xue Kong, Jin Ye
Construction: Hangzhou Fengqi construction
Photos courtesy: Minjie Wang
SAY ARCHITECTS
Say Architects is an award-winning innovative design office focusing on architecture, interior and urban planning. The studio is located in Hangzhou, led by Yan Zhang and Jianan Shan. Both Yan and Jianan had practiced in multiple internationally-honored design studio for years before founding the studio. say architects has a extensive experience in Arts, Hospitality, commercial, and landscape works in various scale, other projects includes retail, office, public utilities and master planning.
