X11 Toy Collection Store at MixC World in Xi’an, designed by TOMO DESIGN, transforms toy retail into an immersive spatial experience shaped around narrative environments, experiential circulation and retro-futuristic aesthetics. Developed for the Gen Z consumer, the 1,000 sqm flagship store combines retail design, visual storytelling and interactive display strategies to create a hybrid environment where shopping, exploration and social interaction coexist.
Located in Xi’an, China, the project introduces a large-scale suspended airship installation that organizes circulation, visual hierarchy and customer engagement across two levels. The concept merges sci-fi imagery, synthwave references and industrial materials to construct a retail environment that functions as both commercial space and immersive experiential landscape.
The immersive retail layout organizes customer circulation around the central airship
The project develops around a monumental metallic airship positioned at the center of the store. The installation connects the upper and lower levels while becoming the primary spatial anchor of the entire retail environment. The intervention transforms the original interior surfaces and creates a continuous dialogue between architecture, display systems and circulation paths.
The suspended structure introduces a strong centripetal force inside the store. Customers move through organized exploration routes defined by retail displays, visual landmarks and immersive scenography. The layout supports high-density product presentation while maintaining spatial clarity and navigability.
The cashier area is integrated into the “cockpit” located beneath the airship. This solution turns a functional retail component into part of the narrative experience while reinforcing the continuity of the circulation route. Open structural details and integrated lighting systems reveal the interior of the installation and encourage visitors to enter and explore the space.
The retro-futuristic concept combines sci-fi references with experiential retail design
The design language references vintage aviation aesthetics interpreted through futuristic materials and lighting effects. The airship becomes both symbolic object and immersive device, introducing themes of freedom, exploration and parallel dimensions into the retail environment.
The crescent-shaped glass walkway connecting the second floor slab to the airship eliminates visual separation between architectural elements and reinforces spatial continuity. TOMO DESIGN carefully refined the structure to create the perception of a floating volume suspended within the store.
The interior atmosphere combines industrial finishes, reflective metal surfaces and cinematic visual references inspired by 1970s science-fiction imagery. Mechanical buttons, retro meters, distorted digital screens and experimental laboratory elements contribute to a layered retail narrative aligned with the X11 brand identity.
Lighting and steel structures reinforce the futuristic spatial identity
Lighting design plays a central role in defining the immersive character of the store. Linear light strips integrated into the gridded architectural framework generate a futuristic visual rhythm across the interior. Red blinking lights installed along the steel staircases intensify the sense of movement and exploration while directing customers toward the central installation.
The full-height glass curtain wall opens the interior toward the exterior urban context while simultaneously revealing the immersive retail environment from outside. The façade integrates the X11 logo and a digital matrix screen positioned within the triangular entrance canopy, reinforcing the visual identity of the flagship store.
The combination of steel frameworks, exposed structures and integrated lighting creates a technological atmosphere that strengthens the project’s retro-futuristic language. The lighting system also contributes to visual hierarchy by emphasizing circulation nodes, display zones and focal points throughout the store.
Materials and display systems create a laboratory-inspired retail environment
The interior combines rough industrial textures with precise detailing. Laboratory-inspired retail displays and modular shelving systems organize the extensive toy collection while maintaining visual consistency throughout the project.
Green terrazzo flooring contrasts with stainless steel surfaces and metallic display structures, generating a dialogue between retro references and futuristic aesthetics. Experimental-console-inspired shelving systems reinforce the narrative dimension of the retail experience while supporting efficient product presentation.
The project integrates storytelling, visual merchandising and immersive scenography into a cohesive retail strategy. Different spatial zones unfold progressively along the customer journey, creating multiple experiential moments connected by visual and functional “magnetic points”.
The flagship store transforms toy retail into a narrative experiential destination
The X11 flagship store at MixC World in Xi’an redefines contemporary toy retail through immersive architecture, narrative circulation and experiential design strategies. The suspended airship installation functions simultaneously as architectural centerpiece, retail infrastructure and storytelling device.
Through the integration of lighting, display systems, industrial materials and sci-fi references, the project constructs a layered environment designed to stimulate exploration, social interaction and emotional engagement. The result is a retail space where architecture and visual merchandising become part of a continuous experiential narrative tailored to contemporary consumer culture.
Project: X11 Toy Collection Store in Xi’an MixC World
Client: KK Group
Location: Xi’an, China
Area: 1000 sqm
Design Studio: TOMO DESIGN, TO ACC
Interior Design: Uno Chan, Xiao Fei
Cooperative Design: Jamie Ho, Linus, Jason Luo
Decoration Design: Tin, Jamie Ho, Linus
Photos Courtesy: Yanming Studio
Technical Support: G.art Lighting Design (Shenzhen), ZHUJIN ART