The Golden Eagle department store is located at the corner of North Shaanxi Road and Nanjing West Road in Shanghai’s Central Jing’an district, home to many of the city’s top retail developments and corporate office towers. The Golden Eagle Group; one of the earliest movers in the department store space in China; invited Kokaistudios to undertake an expansive architectural and interior design renovation of the property to re-position it to compete more effectively in China’s highly competitive retail environment and attract their target clientele in one of China’s top retail locations.

The Golden Eagle department store is located at the corner of North Shaanxi Road and Nanjing West Road...

This typical closed box type of building was built in the late 1990s and went through two commercially un-successful facade and interior renovations over the past decade before the client engaged Kokaistudios. Our analysis of the building led us to identify two main problems; the lack of natural daylight and the lack of connection to the city due to the façade, dominated by stone walling and the enclosed interior space centered around a six storey atrium with no open ceiling access to the outside. On the positive side the overall scale and size of the building; thirty-six-thousand square metres;spread over eight floors worked well with the surrounding buildings and city blocks thus giving us the opportunity to break this isolation from the city and reshape the interiors and facades.

This typical closed box type of building was built in the late 1990s and went through two commercially...

In conjunction with the client team Kokaistudios developed an integrated architectural and interior design project that focused on “breaking the box” and reconstructing the vertical blocks to create a project that dialogued and was integrated with the surrounding urban space. The six-floor tall main facade has been de-constructed and opened up via a series of large-scale windows and terraces designed with a distinctive wave feature made out of Corian that extends from the external façade into the main commercial areas.

In conjunction with the client team Kokaistudios developed an integrated architectural and interior design...

This idea of blending the external to the internal in a seamless experience has been extended to the landscape and the ground pavers to create the feeling of an internal / external piazza thus integrating the project with the bustling surroundings. The new central façade and entrance create a strong identify for the project and bring natural daylight into the atrium thus creating a welcoming environment.

This idea of blending the external to the internal in a seamless experience has been extended to the...

The volume of the atrium has also been enlarged to accentuate the openness. In Kokaistudios' design scheme, the circulation in each floor has also been improved so that the shopping experience in each floor is consistent and can flow smoothly, delivering synergy and energy for the visitors. In this way, "the box" has been opened from both outside and the inside, through this more contemporary and human-centric urban renewal scheme, we reconnect the building to the city and bring greater value and benefits to our clients and to consumers.

The volume of the atrium has also been enlarged to accentuate the openness. In Kokaistudios' design...

The first phase of the projecthas currently completed and is open to the public. Phase 2 of the project is scheduled to begin construction following the expiration of the lease of the anchor tenant and it will completely break the building’s original volume composition with a new façade and a series of gardens and green areas with a strong and unique visual identity that will be strongly representative of the brand and will help the building become a new landmark retail destination for the city, and another example of Kokaistudios holistic design approach in creating adaptive re-use / urban renewal projects.

The first phase of the projecthas currently completed and is open to the public. Phase 2 of the project...