x+living fills tea store with smooth wooden clouds and mountains in china

from the chinese firm that brought maze-like libraries and a whimsical swimming pool, now x+living ventured into designing a green tea flagship store in chengdu, china. the green tea brand, zhuyeqing, commissioned a unique spatial experience in the brand’s native city. the architects based the project on the notion that the environment influences a person’s mood, and a pleasant mood makes the tea tastier and the overall retail experience more delightful. 

for the flagship store, x+living created a smooth and soft wooden landscape that represents clouds and mountains, commonly found in chinese paintings. the two symbols reference the natural origin of tea leaves and are transformed into the furniture and decorative elements of the store. while some mountains serve as display shelves, others become habitable cocoons with sofas for relaxing. some clouds produce soothing lighting effects, and others reach down almost to the ground and hold products inside. 

the curved shapes not only meet the functional requirements of the store’s display, but also complement the richness of the aesthetic composition in the space. the bulging geometries provide consumers with a variety of viewing perspectives. after fully observing the sensory consumers’ needs, x+living decided to reduce the ‘fixed shapes’ in the space. 

through the customized wooden geometries, the needs of the store’s operation and consumer’s experience are perfectly contained. this way, the designers ingeniously created a free atmosphere and an extraordinary sensory experience in the store. the functional blocks with different levels and positions are carefully laid out on the consumer’s action path, which guides them through a path of discovery. 

at the same time, x+living used the store’s limited height to create quiet and elegant seating cocoons. walking into the space feels as if walking through the clouds, where guests can enjoy the freedom and relaxation of sitting within the quiet mountains.

the large-scale use of stainless steel materials add a touch of modern poetry in the space, and contrast against the light, uniform wood. the new aesthetic of the tea experience breaks through the traditional form, and provides a rich sensory journey through the tea purchase. 

project info:

architecture: x+living

project: zhuyeqing green tea flagship store

location: chengdu, china

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: cristina gomez | designboom