Press Release
Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space by Luchuan Zhang Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
Luchuan Zhang honored for interior space and exhibition design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space by Luchuan Zhang, designed for Eik Space Design, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who assessed anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Bronze A' Design Award Means
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
Regarding 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.
Award Record
Luchuan Zhang is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Entries typically include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. Awarded interior designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/178150
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/178150
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!178150
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/375773
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.eikdesign.com
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space
- Function
- Liquor Retail Experience Space
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Black, Dark Slate Gray, Dark Olive Green, Gray and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Eik Space Design
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Luchuan Zhang
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #178150
Credits
- Team
- EIK Space Design, Chengdu, China, Oway Lighting, Zhigui Studio, Chuanlian International Trade Co., Ltd. and The project was developed as a collaborative dialogue between design, light, and brand identity. Each partner contributed to shaping a sensory and emotional narrative, where architecture, light, and storytelling merge into one integrated experience.
- Image Credits
- Photographer / Architectural Photographer Chen Yiran (EIK Space Design Studio), Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024.; Photographer Chen Yiran (EIK Space Design Studio), Chuanlian Liquor Retail Experience Space, 2024.; 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.
Design Details
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Realization and 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.
- Operation and Interaction
- 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.
- Project Duration and Location
- 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.
- Specifications
- 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.
- Keywords
- Liquor retail, immersive experience, spatial storytelling, light design, maritime culture, interactive display, Chinese spirits, digital exploration, sensory space, brand narrative
