The Pop-up Store centers around 3 ideas: activation of public space, versatility, and sustainability. The store was initially installed on a rectangular plaza in front of a shopping mall in Shanghai during summer. The client wishes to deploy the store in other cities but have not been determined subsequent sites during design phase.
The design aims to activate the surrounding space, providing people a place to stay and chill, on a vast open plaza. We dedicate more than 75% of the roofed area completely open to public, and the rest able to accommodate the core function of beverage preparing/selling. Moreover, we designed a ‘Bubble pool’ as an urban attraction that both kids and adults can interact with.
The pop-up store adopts a robust modular system, to adapt to different possible sites. We designed 3 types of primary modules which provides shade, and shelter from rain. The primary modules’ size is limited for easy transportation. They can act as individual kiosks. Or in larger numbers, they form different shapes to enclose or sub-divide public space. A series of secondary lightweight furniture modules is designed to attach to primary modules. They can be easily swapped out for different future programs.
The modules are easy to assemble onsite. Every module is prefabricated in factory. We use aluminum, steel and plywood as main material. The entire Shanghai store was fully placed and assembled within 10 hours, causing minimal disturbance to the plaza.
After its debut in Shanghai, the store was disassembled, then shipped and installed in Guangzhou later in winter. Modules were rearranged to respond to the circular site, forming a pair of “C” curves, instead of the single “S” curve in Shanghai. All modules from Shanghai store were reused.
The modules are stored in warehouse and available for future use.