studio APL mano select taipei city taiwan designboom
studio APL converts half-century old building into modern storefront
all images courtesy of studio APL 

 

 

 

min-ling hsieh and yu-chun chen established mano to promote the world of contemporary, hand made jewelry. after four years of pop-up shops, workshops, lectures, curated exhibitions, gallery showings, and multi-disciplinary collaborations; it was time to settle into something a bit more permanent. they settled for a 50 year old building in urban taipei city, taiwan. the structure underwent a total renovation by taiwanese interior designers at studio APL.

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front façade  

 

 

 

the narrow building was separated into functions by floor. walking through the main entrance, visitors find themselves in a small storefront. an added skylight brings natural light directly into the display case, and a specially-designed reception desk gives hsieh and chen a comfortable place to chat and consult with customers. located in the back, is a dedicated workshop space. the multi-purpose room can be used for display overflow, storage and, of course, for hosting various classes and talks. above, is the ‘mano’ teams’ primary studio. the quaint room, featuring all the needs of the designers, can be used without interruption regardless of what’s occurring in the store beneath. the store is now fully operational, under the updated moniker, ‘mano select’.  

studio APL converts half-century old building into modern storefront
window display 

studio APL mano select taipei city taiwan designboom
sunlight from skylight 

studio APL converts half-century old building into modern storefront
reception desk 

studio APL converts half-century old building into modern storefront
workshop

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studio

studio APL converts half-century old building into modern storefront
entrance foyer 

studio APL mano select taipei city taiwan designboom
starlight entrance lighting 

studio APL converts half-century old building into modern storefront
‘mano select’ at night 

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wall detail 

studio APL mano select taipei city taiwan designboom
 wall construction process 

 

 

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: nick brink | designboom