bulgari's flagship kuala lumpur store features a marble-veined façade designed by MVRDV

bulgari has opened a flagship store in the malaysian city of kuala lumpur with a striking façade designed by MVRDV. the storefront, which experiments with traditional materials to convey the luxury brand’s heritage, is the first in a series of MVRDV-designed façades for bulgari. permeated with gold light, the concrete structure features illuminated marble veins, which can be seen on both the exterior and interior façades.

all images by daria scagliola and stijn brakkee

in developing the project, MVRDV referenced the cornice of bulgari’s via condotti store in rome. the scheme developed from research conducted in collaboration with TU delft, and tensoforma, who worked on the production of the elevation. during the day, an organic façade is presented to the street, while at night, a more dramatic effect is achieved with a warm amber glow.

bulgari has opened a flagship store in kuala lumpur

to realize the project, glass reinforced concrete (GRC) was cut according to the desired pattern and filled with resin then illuminated by amber LED lights. a stainless steel sheet acts as a base for the resin, with panel joints hidden and integrated into the pattern. MVRDV states that this technique can be adopted globally, making the brand’s façades instantly recognizable across the world.

the concrete structure features illuminated marble veins

the pattern can be seen on both the exterior and interior façades

the design experiments with traditional materials to convey the luxury brand’s heritage

the resin is illuminated by amber LED lights

the interior of the flagship store

the design references the cornice of bulgari’s via condotti store in rome

at night, a dramatic effect is achieved with a warm amber glow

the project is the first in a series of MVRDV-designed façades for bulgari

project info:

location: kuala lumpur, malaysia
client: bulgari
program: 103.4 sqm, façade design
budget: undisclosed
design: MVRDV – winy maas, jacob van rijs and nathalie de vries
concept phase – design team: jacob van rijs, fokke moerel with sanne van der burgh, aser giménez ortega, elien deceuninck, rico van de gevel and junxiang zhang
design and material development phase – design team: jacob van rijs, fokke moerel with aser giménez ortega, elien deceuninck, simone costa, frane stancic, william de ronde, marek nosek and rico van de gevel
construction phase – design team: jacob van rijs, fokke moerel with aser giménez ortega, simone costa and marek nosek

partners
resin: estro s.n.c – marco salvioni
concrete: CDF s.r.l – jacopo antonioli
glass: vetraria bergamasca tecnovetro s.r.l – sonia bonesi glass film: euroline for 3m – massimo schetz
material research: delft university of technology – rob nijsse, frederic a. veer, telesilla bristogianni, faidra oikonomopoulou, lida barou and kees baardolf
structural research: ABT bv – e.h.j. ten brincke, p.a. bulsink, m.lw. van veghel, e.a.m van den broek
engineering and construction: tensoforma trading s.r.l.- stefano bertino, laura finazzi, ilenia longa and fab