Bronze Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2026
Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space
- A' Design Award 2026 Bronze Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Eik Space Design
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 5,836
- Verification code 973CE1CF9E · Verify this award
About Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space
Chuanlian is a liquor retail and experience space located in Dalian, China. The design covers 3,000 square meters over three floors, arranged as a voyage. Visitors enter through an installation shaped like a treasure chest and move through zones for Chinese baijiu, red wine, mixed liquor and a bar. Display racks and partitions take their form from sails and masts, while the ceiling follows a wave shape. Materials were selected for reflective and tensile qualities. An adjustable lighting system and a mobile application guide movement, and open displays allow visitors to touch each bottle.
Within the evolving landscape of contemporary retail design, where experiential environments increasingly supplant conventional transactional spaces, this interior composition demonstrates how spatial architecture can elevate commercial function into an immersive narrative that honors product heritage while engaging contemporary sensibilities through material authenticity and atmospheric orchestration. The design appears to draw upon multiple resonant traditions: the archival beauty of historic apothecaries and spirits libraries where bottles were treasured objects requiring careful preservation and presentation; the spatial drama of mid-twentieth-century Scandinavian modernism where natural materials and geometric clarity created environments of both warmth and intellectual rigor; and the sophisticated branding strategies of contemporary luxury retail where every surface, sightline, and lighting decision contributes to a coherent story about craft, selectivity, and connoisseurship. The suspended cylindrical display element achieves particular architectural distinction, functioning simultaneously as sculptural focal point, functional merchandising armature, and symbolic gesture toward the cylindrical forms of barrels and bottles themselves, the curved volume suggesting both containment and generous revelation as the backlit niches transform each bottle into a luminous specimen worthy of contemplation rather than hurried selection. The material palette demonstrates admirable restraint and intentionality, with the warm earth tones of carefully finished timber creating visual and haptic warmth that invites tactile engagement while the strategic deployment of glass transparency, metal accents, and pale neutral backgrounds prevents the composition from becoming visually heavy despite the substantial architectural masses employed. The lighting design reveals sophisticated understanding of how illumination shapes spatial perception and emotional response, with warm golden tones suggesting the liquid character of aged spirits, the interplay of shadow and glow creating visual drama that rewards extended looking, and the careful calibration of brightness levels establishing hierarchy while maintaining overall environmental cohesion. The freestanding display tables in the middle ground demonstrate thoughtful integration of furniture design principles into retail architecture, their substantial presence and splayed-leg geometry suggesting permanence and crafted quality rather than temporary fixtures, their horizontal surfaces becoming stages for carefully composed still-life arrangements that invite close examination of individual products, packaging design, and accompanying narrative materials. The spatial composition invites a contemplative mode of engagement, suggesting that the selection of spirits becomes not merely a purchase but a considered choice informed by aesthetic appreciation, historical understanding, and personal taste cultivation, the environment functioning as educational and inspirational rather than purely commercial. The geometric patterning visible on distant wall surfaces introduces subtle visual complexity and suggests perhaps abstracted landscape references or architectural motifs that might connect to regional heritage or brand narrative, these patterns operating at the threshold of legibility and adding layered visual interest for sustained viewing without overwhelming the primary focus on product presentation. The overall achievement lies in the seamless integration of multiple functional requirements, the space must merchandise effectively, create memorable brand experience, accommodate diverse customer interactions from quick selection to extended browsing, maintain appropriate visibility and security for valuable inventory, and establish atmospheric qualities that align product positioning with spatial environment, all while achieving aesthetic coherence that feels both contemporary and connected to craft traditions. How might such carefully orchestrated retail environments reshape our relationship to objects of daily ritual, transforming consumption into occasions for aesthetic attention and mindful selection?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Inspired by the Chinese word "Chuanlian," meaning "connected rivers," this 3,000-square-meter liquor retail space in Dalian transforms the act of buying into a journey of discovery. Flowing light, curved paths, and layered materials evoke the passage of time and taste, celebrating the spirit and refinement of Chinese liquor culture.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The project is located in Dalian, China, covering 3,000 square meters over three floors. Each level unfolds a journey - from Chinese baijiu to red wine and spirits from around the world - encouraging visitors to explore. Every display is designed to be touchable and scenographic, allowing guests to feel the texture, temperature, and story behind each bottle. The space blends narrative and interactivity, transforming retail into a sensory voyage.
- Tags
- Liquor retail, immersive experience, spatial storytelling, light design, maritime culture, interactive display, Chinese spirits, digital exploration, sensory space, brand narrative
- Production Technology
- The space takes form from the language of the sea. Exhibition racks and partitions evolve from the structure of sails and masts, expressing both lightness and tension. The undulating ceiling echoes ocean waves, guiding the rhythm of movement. Materials were chosen for their reflective and tensile qualities rather than ornament. A Dali lighting system with fully adjustable brightness and color temperature turns light into an emotional compass, responding to each visitor’s pace.
- Design Challenge
- The greatest challenge was to translate an invisible emotion - trust - into spatial form. The team needed to balance commercial clarity with poetic experience, ensuring that exploration felt natural rather than staged. Another difficulty lay in integrating the dynamic DALI lighting and digital guide system into an environment of calm tactility. Every detail, from material resonance to visitor rhythm, was calibrated to evoke a sense of voyage and belonging.
- Project Duration
- The project is located in Dalian, China. Design development began in November 2021 and construction was completed in November 2024. The space officially opened to the public in January 2025 as the flagship retail and experience center of Chuanlian International Trade Co., Ltd., representing the brand’s renewed vision for cultural storytelling and sensory engagement in liquor retail.
- Operation Flow
- Visitors enter through an installation symbolizing a voyager's treasure chest and gradually move through zones of Chinese baijiu, red wine, mixed liquor, and finally the bar. The themed journey is guided by dynamic lighting and a mobile app that responds to movement. All displays are open and touchable, inviting guests to slow down, release tension, and connect through genuine sensory experience rather than distance or formality.
- Research
- The research focused on how liquor retail could rediscover the warmth between place and people in an era dominated by online consumption. The process involved observing consumer behavior in both digital and physical contexts, interviewing long-time customers, and studying emerging consumption scenes that had never existed before. Findings revealed that creativity, immersion, atmosphere, and narrative rebuild trust more effectively than efficiency. Chuanlian transforms these insights into a spatial story where commerce becomes culture.
- Inspiration
- Chuanlian, a 28-year-old liquor retail brand, responds to the digital era by redefining offline experience. Inspired by Dalian’s maritime culture, the design follows a voyager who set sail 28 years ago in search of fine spirits. The journey unfolds through sail-like forms and wave motifs, blending narrative and emotion. With app-guided exploration and on-site tasting, the space turns retail into connection - restoring authenticity, tactility, and ritual to the physical store.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer / Architectural Photographer Chen Yiran (EIK Space Design Studio), Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024.
Image #2: Photographer Chen Yiran (EIK Space Design Studio), Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024.
Image #3: Photographer Chen Yiran (EIK Space Design Studio), Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024.
Image #4: Photographer Chen Yiran (EIK Space Design Studio), Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024.
Image #5: Photographer Chen Yiran (EIK Space Design Studio), Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024.
Video Credit: Directed by Luchuan Zhang (EIK Space Design Studio), Edited by EIK Space Design Studio, Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to EIK Space Design Studio and Luchuan Zhang.
All drawings, renderings, and photographs are original works created for Chuanlian Liquor Retail Space by EIK Space Design Studio.