Bangkok-based architecture firm HAS design and research has imagined a showroom like "a snowy landscape" in Hefei, China. 

Named Simple Craft Collection Showroom, the 420-square-metre is the first signature showroom and furniture museum for the French brand Ligne Roset in Anhui, China. 

Ligne Roset, which was founded in 1860 by the renowned French furniture maker Antoine Roset, has stood for sophisticated living and contemporary luxury for 160 years. It does this by constantly fusing creativity and skill to create furniture that opens up new possibilities.

HAS Design and Research was commissioned at the end of 2021 to create an unconventional showroom, signature store, and museum of furniture. In addition to showcasing Ligne Roset's distinctive innovation, this area had to exemplify contemporary craftsmanship. 

Upholding Ligne Roset's brand standards, Hung And Songkittipakdee (HAS) learned that a tributary of the Nanfei River surrounding the base freezes in the winter after learning about the location in Hefei, Anhui. 

The floating ice blocks of different sizes resemble icebergs, and their organic shapes mixed with the snowy surroundings make for a picturesque scene that shows off the distinctive texture of Anhui's winter scenery and turns the city into a winter wonderland.

The founders and architects of HAS Design and Research, Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee, proposed the unconventional design idea known as "Floating Icebergs." 

By embodying the sharp solidity of "ice freezing" and the smooth fluidity of "ice melting," this concept creatively responds to the varied relationship between the site and its surroundings, resulting in an amazing spatial experience.

Nearly a hundred angular "ice pillars" form a ring at the entrance, occasionally connected and at other times disconnected, creating a continuous yet perforated multi-dimensional "frozen" shape. 

In addition to isolating the noisy outside world, this creates a distinctive semi-transparent visual effect by letting light pass through the gaps. 

Inside, the space has a continuous, layered endless realm that resembles the smooth merging imagery of "ice melting," in contrast to the jagged exterior columns. 

When coupled with the distinctively curved furniture by Ligne Roset, this produces a rich spatial effect both indoors and outdoors.

In daylight, almost two hundred pillars of ice combine with light and space to produce a dual expression of angular and smooth shapes. 

The smooth walls on the other side of the ice pillars experience unique light and shadow changes thanks to the triangular openings hidden within the jagged ice pillars, which also introduce natural wind. 

The triangular apertures between the ice pillars light up at night and on special occasions, producing an amazing crystal effect on the ceiling and floor. The contrast between the lengths of light and shadow creates a striking effect that gives visitors a spiritual experience that feels both organic and unique from traditional interior settings.

The Modern Craft Collection is a furniture museum that goes beyond traditional showrooms' functional use as commercial displays. It arouses tourists' awareness of the distinct cultural essence and location-specific natural phenomena of an otherwise aimless place. 

Apart from fulfilling the functional needs, the design presents a visually pleasing, reflective, and ceremonial area for furniture display, offering a break from the busy urban concrete jungle nearby.

Sketch

Existing plan

Geometry plan

Ground floor plan

Axonometric diagram

Column transformation

Mass study demonstrates the approach taken by architects Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee

South elevation

HAS design and research designed a public ground interior made of disc-like thousands of aluminum rods in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition, the studio unveiled proposal for a new design center in Surin, Thailand.

Project facts

Project name: Simple Craft Collection

Location: Hefei, China

Completion year: 2024

Architecture firm: HAS design and research

Lead architects: Jenchieh Hung, Kulthida Songkittipakdee

Design team: Jenchieh Hung, Kulthida Songkittipakdee, Tapanee Laddahom

Lighting consultant: Jenna Tsailin Liu

Lighting technology: Visual Feast (VF)

Furniture: Ligne Roset

Furniture consultant: Weili Yang

Construction consultant: Zaiwei Song

Constructor: Guangdong Xingyi Decoration Group Anhui Co., Ltd

Site area: 420m2

Gross built area: 420m2

All images © W Workspace.

All drawings © HAS design and research.

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