Above the Huangpu River in Shanghai’s Lujiazui district, ECCO’s new creative hub pairs adaptable work areas with a rich mix of artworks and tactile materials. Completed in September 2025, the 1,300m2 interior was designed by HONG Designworks, a China-based interior design practice founded in 2002, with lead designers Ming Dang and Dandi Li.
Developed as an evolution of ECCO’s China headquarters, the workplace marks the third collaboration between HONG Designworks and ECCO, following earlier projects in Xi’an and Shanghai. The workplace includes shared areas for collaboration and quieter zones for focused creative work.
Throughout the workplace, artworks, materials, and furniture draw on both Shanghai and ECCO’s Danish heritage, giving each area its own character.
A warm and restrained material palette
The elevator lobby establishes the interior palette through light-toned wood veneers, seashell terrazzo flooring, and diffused lighting. The palette extends the approach developed for ECCO’s earlier offices, including its 31st-floor China headquarters.
An automatic door featuring the ECCO logo and custom textures marks the transition into the hub.
Inside, a linear discussion zone combines tables at different heights with an eclectic mix of seating, allowing the area to support different forms of interaction.
A TSURU MOBILE HANGING lamp adds a sculptural element overhead, while Dandi Li’s artwork “Where Light Lingers, Shadows Listen” becomes a focal point near the entrance.
Inspired by Shanghai and Bredebro, Denmark, the artwork interprets Shanghai magnolias and Danish daisies through traditional embroidery techniques. Pixelated gradients, layered threads, and hand-dyed yarns form a textured composition that draws together references from both locations.
Eastern and Western mythical creatures appear among forest life in the composition, adding further detail to the artwork.
A central plaza for creative work and exchange
The central plaza forms the main shared area of ECCO Creative Hub, accommodating daily creative activities. Here, teams compare materials, pair apparel and footwear, fit prototypes, prepare displays, and capture quick styling references.
A custom artwork, ‘In the Flow of Light and Tide’, provides the visual focus of the plaza while drawing on the landscapes of Shanghai and Denmark. Its layered textures and shifting tones evoke water, light, and movement.
ZA System modular seating allows the arrangement to shift between clustered and dispersed layouts, while Easy Rider mobile desk chairs support movement across the space. Existing furniture has also been reused throughout the workplace, maintaining familiarity for the ECCO team.
Around the plaza, large meeting rooms and open work areas face the river views. Warm timber finishes continue through these spaces, reinforcing ECCO’s association with durability, nature, and craftsmanship.
The break area occupies the workplace’s most sun-drenched corner, with window-side benches, round tables, and a casual bar counter encouraging informal conversations away from meeting rooms.
Artworks linking Shanghai and Denmark
References to Shanghai and Denmark continue through Dandi Li’s ‘Flowing Impressions’ series, placed across the central plaza and open work areas.
‘In the Flow of Light and Tide I’ is displayed on a Finn Juhl 1955 sideboard at the centre of the plaza. The piece captures changing impressions of the Huangpu River through cool gradients and rippling textures, shifting from muted tones on overcast days to warmer shades created by sunlight and reflections.
Two further works draw from Denmark’s Wadden Sea coastline. “In the Flow of Light and Tide II” depicts a white-hulled sailboat with a wooden deck, while “In the Flow of Light and Tide III” portrays a red house surrounded by pink-hued wheat fields.
Gold and silver leaf, pigments, and three-dimensional details give the artworks depth and texture that respond to changing light throughout the day.
At the staff entrance and break area, the “Echo by ECCO” art walls feature modular structures of translucent composite layers filled with preserved botanicals and embedded materials. The frames are parametrically carved to create organic openings in the structure.
Plant species native to Shanghai and Denmark are combined with more than a thousand pieces of plant-dyed leather created from ECCO’s leather offcuts and textiles. Facing natural light, the staff entrance installation allows sunlight to pass through the translucent bricks, illuminating the embedded foliage and leather elements.
Craftsmanship across the workspace
Flooring from BOLON helps define areas within the workplace, while materials including Quarella, DuPont™ Corian®, Interface, Kvadrat, and finishes from brands such as Dulux, 3M, Imondi, LX Hausys, De+Kahn, and COLORCASA contribute to the interior palette.
Furniture from USM, Herman Miller, Steelcase, Bulo, Lapalma, Finn Juhl, Vitra, Fritz Hansen, Tacchini, Muuto, Forest, Lintex, Céline Wright, GUBI, Tecnolumen, and VIBIA supports different modes of collaboration, display, and individual work.
From the embroidered artworks near the entrance to the botanical installations lit by natural light, recurring references to Shanghai and Denmark run throughout the workplace. Together, they give ECCO Creative Hub a distinct identity rooted in the rhythms of everyday creative work rather than formal office planning.
Photos: © Studio Ten-Tan Xiao
