Shanghai-based architecture and interior design firm More Design Office has completed a flower shop in Shanghai, China. 

Named Absolute Flower Shop, the 200-square-metre shop is located in Anfu Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China and features cellular spaces with flower arrangements featuring all-white backdrop. 

Located on the ground floor of an old house, More Design Office divided the space into three: street gallery, artificial landscape and a secret garden. The architects designed a series of cellular spaces which open up to a large garden at the rear. 

Image © Dirk Weiblen

MDO conceived the design as a linear journey of reveal, where each space creates a unique engagement with the flower arrangements and the viewer.  

MDO’s intervention is conceived as a series of insertions into the old fabric. Cool stainless steel frames contrasting with the rough texture of the existing Shanghai wall.

Image © Dirk Weiblen

Anfu Lu in Shanghai’s French Concession is one of the busiest areas with a culture of café, retail and residential life. The tree-lined streets of old colonial buildings are a popular place for strolling, exploring and taking photographs.

Image © Dirk Weiblen

The owner of Absolute Flowers, Ms. Jing, has an instinctive and timeless love for flowers inspired by her first glimpse of a boutique when she was a child. She established Absolute Flower Shop in 2012 and over the past 8 years, the boutique has created many stunning works of art based on her philosophy of "exquisite, tasteful and ingenious". These works explore the boundaries between the natural and the artificial, often presenting the flowers in surreal yet magical displays.

When the studio first and saw these works presented in a white space, the studio was interested in the contrast, how a neutral background becomes an essential element in the presentation.

Image © Yichen Ding

Gallery

One first encounters the shop from the street through gallery, viewed through a small shop window. This window dates back from a time where the local community could buy day to day goods through the small window directly off the street, directly connecting the community to the interior. 

"This practice no longer occurs, but we wanted to reference this practice by creating a gallery viewed solely from the street, which will present an evolving series of installations made only of the flowers available at the time of the year," said More Design Office. 

"Each window becomes a framed painting of another world, a scene connected to the seasons."

Image © Yichen Ding

The rear of the space is one way mirror, hiding the spaces within, and allowing the viewer to see themselves in the reflection with the flower installation.

Entering from the street the viewer passes beside the gallery where the light comes solely from a digital screen showing the previous flower creations. 

Image © Yichen Ding

"This digital moment, an acknowledgement to how we now consume design, creates a palette cleanse before experiencing the real plants within," according to the studio.

Image © Yichen Ding

Artificial Landscape 

The main heart of the shop was conceived as an artificial landscape, a neutral terrain to contrast with the flower installations. A subdued palette of bush hammered stone and brushed stainless steel boxes rise up through the space providing different height plinths for flower display.

Image © Yichen Ding

Artist Studio

A private studio connects to the main gallery where the owner has space to work on large scale installations. The studio is connected to the garden through a large existing wrought iron window, which allows guests a glimpse of the new creations as they pass outside.

Image © Yichen Ding

Secret Garden 

The main studio opens out onto the secret garden, a generous 100-square-metre space unique in Shanghai.  

The garden is a place of relaxation, where the owner can enjoy tea with her friends. There was an existing tree which we wanted to use a shelter, so the design uses an L-shaped bench which wraps the tree, creating a quiet oasis in the heart of the city. The seating area is designed as series of planes, where the verticality of the tree is balanced by a water feature and low level planting area.  

Image © Yichen Ding

Sound & Memory 

The studio designed with sound and memory, the crunch underfoot on the gravel path reminds the designer of long lazy summers spent at his grandmother’s country house in the UK.

The gentle trickle of water, evokes the sound of peace and tranquility.

Image © Dirk Weiblen

Image © Dirk Weiblen

Axonometric diagram

Diagram - Flower Shop

Diagram - Insertion

Plan

Project facts

Project Name: Absolute Flower Shop

Project Location: No. 193, Anfu Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China

Design Firm: More Design Office (MDO) 

Design Directors: Jaycee Chui, Justin Bridgland

Designers: Da Gao, Lorenzo Lanzani, Peng Zhao, Di Chang

Project Area: 200 square meters

Completion Time: Oct. 1st, 2020

Top image © Dirk Weiblen

All images © Dirk Weiblen, Yichen Ding

All drawings © More Design Office (MDO) 

> via More Design Office (MDO)