Cosmetea innovatively integrates tea with trendy cosmetics, resulting in a modern fashion brand and aesthetic based on natural Eastern sentiments. Nax Architects were entrusted to conceive a store for the innovative brand in Shanghai.
The pop-up-style store is located on Yuyuan Road, a hundred-year-old-road that has undergone many changes and represents the essence of Shanghai’s history and culture. Within an area of 75 square meters, the retailing, socializing and experiential space was conceptualized by the architects as a ‘tea house floating in the mountains’.
Taking inspiration from the ‘view framing’ techniques in Chinese classical garden design, a modern minimalist stainless steel screen is positioned at the entrance. The screen adds a sense of rhythm while hinting at the ‘tea house’ concept. The screen also forms a recognizable brand identity, attracting pedestrians to stop and visit.
Upon entering the store, customers are greeted by a long suspended stainless steel table set in the middle of the space, which matches the stainless steel screen. Furthermore, floating lighting fixtures are installed under the old concrete ceiling, along with the unique lighting effects of glass bricks, which generate a surreal atmosphere and interplay of light and shadows.
The overall tone of the space is based on an extract of Pu’er tea’s brilliant red colour, which is blended into low-saturation pink hues. The pink colour palette offers a smoothing environment alongside blank and imaginary Chinese ink wash paintings, while the three-dimensional tactile nature of the walls refers to nature’s vitality.
Fixed steps of glass brick and metal provide an aesthetic that balances lightness and heaviness, as customers are guided upward through the store. Transparent materials used throughout enliven the atmosphere, infusing the multilevel space with a ‘sense of floating’ and inviting customers to freely explore the interior.
Finally, the flexibility of spatial configurations and functions is embodied in the pluggable display racks that create numerous possibilities for exhibiting products, along with mobile steps made of OSB panelling and perforated metal. In an interesting detail, the movable stairs are inlaid with Cosmetea product bottle caps, and the brand logo on the caps is highlighted by the lighting, which turns the recycled materials into sustainable expressions of art.
