A space that’s designed to be lifestyle-driven and community-focused. The entrance opens up to a welcome lobby and plant project collective The Botanist and Her Thieves which offers modern plant solutions–such as soil, custom fertilisers, planters to accessories–sits to the left.
Doubling up as meeting and hot-desk spaces for the Section office upstairs, the space embodies the flexibility to host workshops and guerrilla events that unite people with common interests. Tapping on Section’s digital expertise, we wanted to re-interpret the typical retail/event experience into one that is experienced more collectively for both the private occupants and the larger community.
The overall experience of the space is cashless, seamless and fully integrated with the visual display that you can actually touch and smell. The final missing piece to this multi-sensory experience is Zul Mahmod sound-art installation “of nature and technology” which gently echos in the background as you browse. This centrepiece helps define the other other areas in the space.
To best facilitate encounters and collaborations, the layout is kept open and fluid and the overall colour palette is chosen to be neutral, in different shades of sand and wood. Details are instead expressed through textures and nature of the space. The lines between in the indoors and outdoors are consciously blurred as we placed emphasis on the greening of an indoor space. Large potted plants and and an indoor pebble garden helped further this intent. The walls are coated with a handmade texture in imperfect lines, painstakingly applied layer by layer and were painted cream, to create a neutral and natural backdrop for the vibrant plants and plant accessories. The flooring was kept to a subtle grey in a natural raw tile finishing.
Ultimately, we wanted to create a space that provides respite for the community and allow for endless possibilities. It's a space that enhances the constantly changing arrangements and expressions of People & Nature.
Team:
Architects: LAANK
Photographer: Studio Periphery
