Dutch architecture and urban design practice MVRDV has completed a flagship store for Chinese fashion retailer Urban Revivo in Beijing’s Sanlitun district, featuring a colour-shifting façade and interiors inspired by Beijing’s architectural character.
The 4,120m² store occupies a prominent site on Sanlitun West Street, the main pedestrian route linking the North and South villages of Taikoo Li Sanlitun. It is MVRDV’s second retail project in the district, following its façade design for Tiffany & Co.’s Beijing flagship.
Sanlitun is known for its concentration of high-end retail, where bespoke flagship façades have become part of the streetscape. MVRDV’s response is a building that draws as much from Beijing’s architectural traditions as from contemporary retail design. References to roof tiles, moon gates, and the grey brick associated with the city’s hutongs recur throughout the façade and interiors.
Colour-shifting façade draws on Beijing roof tiles
The façade is composed of suspended aluminium tiles and tubes finished in Urban Revivo’s signature blue. A dichroic coating shifts the colour between blue and purple as daylight changes and visitors move around the building, while sections of the façade project outward in gentle waves.
Seven circular openings serve as display windows inspired by the traditional Chinese moon gate. Combined with the roof tile-inspired cladding, they give the façade a distinctive identity without directly replicating historic architecture.
Interior reinterprets familiar architectural forms
Entering through the largest circular opening, visitors encounter interiors finished predominantly in grey brick, referencing Beijing’s hutongs while providing a restrained backdrop for the retailer’s collections.
The opening profiles change from floor to floor. Moon gates define the ground floor before giving way to arches on the first level, rounded rectangles on the second, and inverted curves on the top floor. Reflective finishes and bright blue furniture characterise the first floor, darker materials distinguish the second, while velvet finishes and cobalt blue upholstery create a more intimate setting for the private shopping floor.
Six themed rooms display special collections
Six themed “Bold Rooms” occupy different corners of the store, each developed around a different material palette and display concept.
Among them are a room lined with upholstered cushions, another formed from recycled fabric blocks, reflective spaces for urban-themed collections, wooden display boxes, adaptable curtain-lined rooms that can also feature installations by local artists, and glass display cases overlooking two internal atriums.
MVRDV also designed the store’s signage and clothing racks.
Founded in 2006, Urban Revivo now operates more than 380 stores worldwide, including its new flagship in Beijing.
