Located in Heifei, China, the Simple Cuisine Gallery by HAS design and research explores a deeper idea of retail. As in all projects from this exemplar practice, lead architects on the project, Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee, and their team have taken inspiration from the natural world and translated organic forms into a human experience.

With a site and built area of 420 square metres, Simple Cuisine Gallery is first and foremost the flagship kitchen museum and showroom of Veneta Cucine, an Italian kitchen brand founded by Giacomo Archiutti in 1967.

The store is situated in a newly developed urban area surrounded by high-rise glass office towers and concrete residential buildings and the showroom could have been more of the same. Instead, HAS design and research has produced something quite extraordinary.

To complement the products, Hung and Songkittipakdee wanted to design a retail solution that would be unique and beautiful and so looked to the natural world for inspiration. While exploring the surrounding area of the store, the architects discovered a small linear forest hidden nearby that was overshadowed by the many modern built structures of the Heifei.

From the forest entrance, and following a pathway, Hung and Songkittipakdee came upon a waterfall stream. To find such a haven within a busy city was a treasure and the form and flow of the water became the genesis of the concept for their project.

At the entrance of Simple Cuisine Gallery there are hundreds of extended flat batons on the façade that together resemble a streaming waterfall which gradually rises and forms an open, valley-like entrance. The undulating façade, much like the cascading surface of a waterfall, transforms into a straight, extended top space with a unique linear skylight and sets the scene for the aesthetic within.

In the central space or the Light Core, a cohesive and axial inner plaza has been designed. It is conceived as cave-like, providing a transitioning space for visitors between the different gallery spaces. During special events, the Light Core is used as a versatile event area for activities such as lifestyle workshops, culinary classes, artistic seminars and exhibition launches.

There are six multifunctional kitchens in separated areas within Simple Cuisine Gallery and these provide the visitor with a unique experience beyond the ubiquitous showroom. Re-interpreted waterfall forms are covered by undulating surfaces, creating openings at elevated points that connect to the outside, and light and shadow have a profound effect on each space.

Related: Lululemon Shanghai by AIM Architecture

Additionally, each gallery provides a singular sensory encounter through texture, light, sound or smell and enables visitors to engage on a tactile and visceral level with the surrounds and the products.

While the colour palette is monotonal, the waterfall re-inventions that adorn the façade and walls provide definition with shadow lines. The marble flooring replicates this with faint images of a random natural pattern and subtle, under ceiling strip lighting all combine to create a spectacular aesthetic. 

HAS design and research always seeks to imbue its projects with the beauty of nature and Simple Cuisine Gallery is no different. Through thoughtful ideas and design, perfect simplicity and detailed resolution, this project is yet another outstanding example of the work of Hung and Songkittipakdee that provides the experiential for the user.

HAS design and research was named winner of The Retail Space at the 2023 INDE.awards and was shortlisted in The Prodigy category at the 2022 INDE.Awards.

HAS design and research
hasdesignandresearch.com

Photography
W Workspace

Next up: Another retail project by HAS