Contract Magazine - January 2020 - 109

PHOTOGRAPHY: SHI XIANG WAN HE AND ZEST ART

"In this imaginative and artistic interior, elements are changed and combined to interpret
the pleasure and happiness inside people." -Luo Manli, Zest Art

Teeming with playful patterning, fanciful forms, and pops of primary colors,
Tong Yue Li is the sales showroom for a trendy and towering residential building
within the competitive real estate market of Zhongshan, China. With young families
and prospective parents identified as the primary potential patrons, Zest Art
rendered a refreshingly whimsical showroom that injects good cheer at every
opportunity as it aims to appeal to the childlike wonder in its clientele.
In visioning sessions, Zest Art's design team-based in nearby Shenzhen-
recalled the bonding benefits of a bedtime story shared between parent and child,
as they tackled their task to create an inviting showroom interior that could
meet the needs of family-oriented buyers. From there, a figurative fairy tale motif
emerged: "Being told a fairy tale at bedtime is a beautiful thing that everyone
has been exposed to in the process of growing up," says Zest Art's Luo Manli.
"We believe that it can shorten the psychological distance between our project
and the customer in an instant." With an overt friendliness that connects to the
corporate goal of providing superlative customer service, the imaginative interior
extracts essentials of classic fairy tale tropes across its succession of spaces
to deliver a warm and welcoming experience for visitors. Inside the showroom's
spacious 3,315 square feet, kaleidoscopic colors cavort with bold geometric forms
and arched entryways, atop pale-gray concrete flooring layered with contrasting
spliced hexagonal carpet tiles.
The designers deployed color coordination as a primary means for creating
moments of entry across each of the showroom's sequential spaces. Passersby
young and old can feel a pull starting with the showroom's lobby, which is painted
in an enveloping turquoise-green hue to evoke the atmosphere of an enchanted
forest at night. Behind the reception desk, the pastoral premise is asserted by
a bucolic backdrop wall boasting an intricate relief that alludes to verdant trees,
grass, and blooming flowers. Hidden light strips overhead outline and animate
the idyllic imagery while an ornate chandelier emulates twinkling stars to saturate
the lobby in warm yellow light.
A milky-white corridor leads customers to the showroom's capacious
central space, designed to be devoid of extraneous details in order to accommodate
large groups of visitors gathered around a carefully crafted architectural model
of the forthcoming residential towers during sales presentations. Hovering above
the building's figurative blueprint, a decorative mobile adds cheer to the showroom
as it comprises delicate depictions of spirited skyline features, including a plane,
a rainbow, clouds, and the sun. The space is characterized by soft yellow colors
that stand in contrast to splashes of green seen in playful cactus sculptures.
Lemon-yellow hues extend into the adjacent meeting area and cafe, where

aquamarine accents re-emerge. Inviting patrons of all ages to linger, beverages
are served at the mint-green-accented bar, which sits beneath a series of striking
globe pendants, while an expanse of white built-in bookshelves backed in dark
turquoise paint is stocked with reading materials and decorative elements.
Upholstery on an array of modernist seating options provides a calming foil
to the polychrome palette that abounds.
Additional seating options are offered in the negotiation areas that
boast more intimate settings for private conversation. The refreshingly childlike
and playful sensibility of this space is further augmented by illusory elements:
A screen's outward face is carved into a relief abstracting scenes from fairy tales,
while allegorical miniature mannequins from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 1943
children's classic "The Little Prince" peer out whimsically from various posts.
"The space allows visitors to experience the most precious and interesting
parts of childhood again," Manli says. "In this imaginative and artistic interior,
elements are changed and combined to interpret the pleasure and happiness
inside people." -HAYLEY ARSENAULT

P RO J E C T C R E DI TS

Architect SLD-YM Design Consultant
Architecture project leader Wu Junming
Interior designer Zest Art
Interior design project leader Yi Tonghua
S E L E C T E D S OU RC E S

Wallcoverings Shenzhen
Jinnuowebang Decoration Materials
(panels); Shenzhen Qinyeda Trading
(paint)
Flooring Shenzhen Fashion Great Vision
Carpet (carpet)
Lighting Shenzhen Shangchen
Photoelectric Technology (recessed
and track lighting); Shenzhen ANGA
Art Soft Decoration (floor/table lamps);
Guangzhou Guangcan Lighting
Technology (pendants/chandeliers);
Shenzhen Weimei Lighting (sconces)
contract

Doors Haifule (hardware)
Glass Shenzhen NANYAO Glass
(architectural glass/glazing and
decorative glass panels/partitions)
Seating Shenzhen Modern Wind
Home Culture
Upholstery Sumei Fabric Design
Tables Shenzhen Modern Wind
Home Culture
Plumbing fixtures/fittings Shenzhen
Jiameile Decoration Materials
Contract Magazine - January 2020

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