An oval reading room with stepped shelving and a display room with tree-trunk-shaped columns are among the spaces designed by Shanghai studio XL-Muse for this bookshop in Hangzhou, China (+ slideshow).

The Zhongsuhge-Hangzhou store is located within the Star Avenue shopping complex in the city's Binjiang district.
The interior was designed by XL-Muse to provide a variety of unique and immersive environments for reading and shopping.

"The store blends the definitions of books into every space by upholding the usual respect for books and knowledge, and infuses the minds of readers with the sacred books by way of design," said the architects.

The shop's presence is announced by a glass wall, which runs along a concourse covered with texts in various languages. Beyond the glazed facade, an entirely white space is interrupted by circular pillars with integrated vertical shelving for displaying books.

The display columns are dispersed around the room in a random arrangement intended to evoke trees growing in a forest. Mirrored panels cover the ceiling, creating the illusion that these columns are twice their actual height.

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Mirrors are also applied to the wall lining the far side of the space so the entire room seems deeper and reflects the environment outside.

"The wall mirror doubles the transverse dimension to enable the whole book spac...