Gold Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2020
Zhuyeqing Green Tea Flagship Store
by Li Xiang
- A' Design Award 2020 Gold Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2020
- CLIENT: X+Living
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 41,916
- Verification code 5B4169CF19 · Verify this award
About Zhuyeqing Green Tea Flagship Store
Drinking tea requires both a favourable environment and a good mood. The designer presents the motif of cloud and mountain in the way of freehand ink painting, and sprinkles a pair of beautiful Chinese landscape paintings in the enclosed limited space. Through customized function carriers, the designer has created a sensory experience for the consumers, which brings huge sensual impact.
Li Xiang's acclaimed retail environment for a distinguished tea purveyor represents a remarkable synthesis of traditional cultural values and contemporary spatial innovation, positioning itself within the broader movement of experiential retail design that emerged prominently in the early twenty-first century as brands sought to create immersive environments transcending conventional commercial presentation. The designer demonstrates exceptional command of biomorphic formal vocabulary, deploying sculptural wooden installations that suggest organic growth patterns, traditional vessel forms, and the ceremonial objects associated with tea culture across multiple traditions, while the material expression of laminated wood construction reveals both technical sophistication and reverent attention to craft heritage. The compositional achievement lies in establishing visual hierarchies through scale, material contrast, and spatial positioning, where the warm wooden structures assert primacy against neutral backgrounds while maintaining harmonious integration with the surrounding architecture through carefully calibrated proportional relationships. Chromatic restraint emerges as a defining characteristic, with the limited palette of warm wood tones, reflective silver, and pristine white creating an environment of refined sophistication that allows subtle green accents from displayed products to register with appropriate visual significance. The reflective wall surfaces serve multiple functions simultaneously, expanding perceived spatial volume, multiplying sculptural presence through mirrored doubling, and establishing a dialogue between tactile materiality and dematerialized reflection that speaks to philosophical traditions valuing contemplation and perception. Technical merit appears throughout in the precision of curved wooden fabrication, the seamless integration of display surfaces within sculptural forms, and the sophisticated lighting design that reveals material qualities without theatrical dramatics. The thematic content engages with notions of natural form, cultural continuity, and the elevation of quotidian commercial activity to experiential ceremony, suggesting that the acquisition of tea might participate in traditions of aesthetic appreciation and mindful consumption. Viewers are invited to consider how contemporary design practice might honor heritage through formal innovation rather than historical imitation, and how spatial environments shape our relationship with the objects and rituals they contain.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The designer had completed the promotion of space design for a renowned green tea brand, Zhuyeqing, in its producing area Chengdu. The mountain-shaped counters seems like shrouded in the mist with bended panels which connect them drawing a graceful arc through the air. It not only meets the functional requirement of displaying goods, but also contributes the richness of aesthetic composition in the space and provides consumers with a variety of appreciative perspectives.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The floor area of the project is 96 sqm.
- Tags
- Li Xiang, retail, flagship store, interior design, xlmuse, china, immersive experience
- Production Technology
- Not only all the power cords and power plugs were hidden in the mountain-shaped counters, but also aromatherapy electric diffuser and sound system in order to reduce objects and make the space rich in experience while simple in forms. The large-scale use of stainless steel materials have added a touch of poetic flavour to the space while still retain a style of modern fashion. The texture and color of metal are just like ink on the paper, grinding out the ethereal artistic conception that perfectly deduces the theme.
- Design Challenge
- In a limited space with quite small area, the designer intended to use the motif of cloud and mountain as they shown in traditional Chinese painting, she would need to greatly reduce the fixed shape while at the same time satisfying all the necessary functions. And it turned out to be the biggest challenge. In additional, it became especially hard for the application of decorative film to the surface of the heteromorphic furniture. In the end, the designer asked the painters to manually paint the beautiful grains simulating that of the wood and finally realized the anticipated effects.
- Project Duration
- The project finished in September 2019 in Chengdu, China.
- Operation Flow
- After fully observation on the sensory needs of the consumers, designer has greatly reduced the fixed shape. Through customized function carriers, the needs of operation and consumer experience are both perfectly satisfied. The functional blocks at different levels and positions are carefully laid out, which opens up a path full of exploration and experience. Walking in the space, as if traveling through the clouds, consumers can not only appreciate the leisurely nature of the fairyland, but also enjoy sitting in the calm and peaceful mountain forest with particular interest.
- Research
- Drinking tea requires both a favourable environment and a good mood, which is the reason why the designer values the guest experience to a great extent. Designer believes that experience is based on perception, therefore, she has greatly reduced the fixed shape in the space and hid most of the functional devices in the customized furniture.
- Inspiration
- The designer presents the motif of cloud and mountain in the way of freehand ink painting, and sprinkles a pair of elegant and beautiful Chinese landscape paintings in the enclosed limited space. Mountain-shaped counters extend naturally in the vertical and horizontal space. And designer transforms the mountain into cloud through the principle of mirror image. The two natural symbols appropriately describe the natural ecological origin place of zhuyeqing green tea.
- Image Credits
- Image#1: Photographer Shao Feng, Zhuyeqing green tea flagship store, 2019.
Image#2: Photographer Shao Feng, Zhuyeqing green tea flagship store, 2019.
Image#3: Photographer Shao Feng, Zhuyeqing green tea flagship store, 2019.
Image#4: Photographer Shao Feng, Zhuyeqing green tea flagship store, 2019.
Image#5: Photographer Shao Feng, Zhuyeqing green tea flagship store, 2019.