continuing its extensive work for high end retailer SKP, london-based architecture firm sybarite collaborates with cult south korean brand gentle monster with SKP-S beijing. sited in china, the new luxury department store SKP-S is a retail concept designed to disrupt the current luxury department store typology. SKP-S, which celebrated its opening in december 2019 opposite the existing SKP beijing flagship store, takes visitors on a journey across four floors of a stylised, alternate universe. the main five hundred square meter entrance hosts a non-commercial space dedicated to an expansive art installation curated to transport the customer into another world.

SKP-S beijing

 

 

sybarite and gentle monster curate an experiential dichotomy between SKP-S and the beijing streets outside to create an immediate atmospheric shift. each of the store’s four levels is designed with its own unique identity and stylized ecosystem to offer the visitor an otherworldly universe, achieved through a careful palette of materials, lighting, robotics, and art installations.

SKP-S beijing

 

 

sybarite and gentle monster design each level of the new SKP-S beijing store with its own artfully futuristic atmosphere. the ground floor is dark and moody with a slick, black opacity running through all the surface treatments and focal lighting. the second floor changes the tempo with a bright, light-flooded environment, brutalist architectural detailing, and art installations populating the circulation spaces. 

SKP-S beijing

 

 

the third floor of SKP-S is a curated, fantasy interpretation of life on planet mars. the visitor enters this space by way of a tunnel clad in a backdrop of LED screens displaying planetary landscapes. finally, the basement floor includes twenty-four dioramas, housing the restaurant concessions. each of these will have their own stylised environment and a diverse range of materiality, while the clean terrazzo walls and floors serve to contrast the brutalist building and exposed structure.

SKP-S beijing SKP-S beijing SKP-S beijing SKP-S beijing SKP-S beijing

 

 

project info:

 

project title: SKP-S

architecture: sybarite architects

interiors: sybarite architects, gentle monster

location: chao yang district, beijing, china

floor area: 27,170 square meters

opening date: december 2019