Hong Kong-based interior design studio One Plus Partnership has completed an immersive experience shop for the Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group. Located in the historic Chinese city of Nanjing, the shop reimagines the ancient city using a gold leaf motif and gift box concept.
Nanjing was once the capital of six ruling dynasties in China and is a place imbued with classical charm. Much of the city’s documented architecture has now disappeared (through modernization or wear and tear), but it features in traditional Chinese poetry and on painted scrolls. To create the interior for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, One Plus Partnership remembers the ancient city of Nanjing through the use of gold leaf and gift boxes.
Nanjing’s architectural heritage has unique characteristics: a pavilion, for example, with graceful upturned eaves on the roof corners and rounded tiles placed carefully in rows. The studio applied this style to the jewelry shop’s ceiling, spacing out the individual ‘roof tiles’. The effect is reminiscent of Nanjing’s old style of architecture and alludes to the grandeur of the ancient capital.
Modern drawing techniques were used to reproduce a graphic map of the old city, conceived from the perspective of a bird’s eye view. An artistic golden piece, the map adorns one entire wall of the shop. Its mottled appearance is a reference to Nanjing’s monumental ancient city wall; built during the Ming Dynasty, a large part of the wall survives today. “We wanted to express the flavor of Nanjing's old city in all aspects, as much as possible, within the limited space,” One Plus Partnership remarked. An additional map on the floor mixes golden tones and brown marble.
On another wall, in line with the jewelry shop’s gold leaf motif and gift box theme, gift boxes are placed in different shades of gold. Additional gift boxes act as jewelry display cases and are integrated into the shape of the ceiling.
Nanjing is the birthplace of gold leaf in China and One Plus Partnership was keen to embrace the material’s noble and luxurious qualities. The main feature of the jewelry shop experience, the studio is hopeful that their golden design will offer visitors an impression of the ancient city of Nanjing.
