Arch2O.com

Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine
Kokaistudios designed for Alt-Life Bookstore in Ningbo celebrates space fluidity and variety, organic geometries and the notion of circulation as a journey, the ultimate ‘people mover’, the drive capable, through curiosity, to spark and sustain life in public spaces as well as in commercial venues.
Courtesy of Kokaistudios – Photography : Dirk Weiblen
A goal we shared with our client since the project’s inception was to design ‘a place for people to linger and spend time in’, where the core function of books’ appreciation was to be complemented and integrated by a wide variety of activities, enabling customers to sit and read, to study, to take part in workshops or live events. A thorough experience, in other words, aspirational and transcending the simple selling of products; a new lifestyle destination for Ningbo and the region. Courtesy of Kokaistudios – Axonometric Diagram
A double height small auditorium and event space and a section dedicated to children were part of the program together with a teahouse, a juice bar, a coffee shop, and a bakery. Complicating the task was the fact that some of these areas were to be operated independently by third party tenants (as yet mostly un-confirmed) thus our design had to guarantee flexibility of use and capacity to adapt to multiple programs and brand identities while still being coherent and consistent design wise with t...