Luneurs Bon Enfant, Shanghai by hcreates
Luneurs bon enfant is located in Jing’an MIXC World. The project explores the theme of “retro futurism”, ignited by a series of retro-futuristic illustrations by a French Chocolate Factory in the 50’s and 60’s.
Retro futurism itself is a sort of contradiction; visions of the future from a time gone by, allowing us to play with the past era in a contemporary way. Evident in the French illustrations was the use of color, curves, movement, and form, and the general graphic, energetic style.
When approaching both the layout and spatial design we tried to integrate these aspects as much as possible, from the sculptural curving bench seats that define the seating area to the iconography within the feature wall itself. The checkered tiles throughout were inspired both by the bold colours of the retro futuristic style but also by a vintage French tile catalogue we stumbled upon.
As the space is rectangle in plan, with defined entry points, our layout was originally controlled by the placement of the kitchen and the main circulation. From there we were able to take a playful approach to the seating. The two large sculptural bench seats reject the conventional form and create unorthodox corners and pockets for customers to sit and engage.
The burl tables, an ode to the retro era and rounded imagery of the futurist aesthetic are ever so slightly oval rather than circular, while the collection of light and dark timber cabinetry offers a warmth and casualness to the space.
Acoustics is important to Luneurs who collaborate with Zenfeel to support the environment in their stores. At Mixc we integrated both concept and acoustics in the form of a 3-dimensional, iconography wall. On one hand this helps operationally with the acoustics in the space, but it also allowed one of the most obvious illustrations of the retro futuristic style. We specifically wanted this to feel like a wall finish rather than acoustics, so we spent some time developing an affect with the contractor that was integrated into the structure of the wall. It was also important for this to support the space rather than dominate attention, so the colour and texture was kept consistent and monochromatic to camouflage itself as part of the standard wall finish. We collaborated with Luneurs’ graphics team who provided the custom artwork (which even includes one of the owners dogs).
Often one of the biggest challenges for mall fitouts are the fire requirements. Understandably strict, they limit the range of materials we are able to use in the space, especially with regard to the softer materials that we associate with comfort and intimacy (such as fabrics and woods). This also has a flow on effect with regard to acoustics.
For this project we used the coloured tiles on the main surfaces of the space, solving three aspects in one, concept, fire requirements, but also cleaning and maintenance. Due to the large amount of tiles, we had to adjust the size to be most visually effective and yet still economic. This involved using a larger tile than originally intended but also affected the colour options we had available. From there we created a custom tile pattern and layout throughout to tie the space together.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Project Name: Luneurs Bon Enfant
Design Firm: hcreates interior design
Website: https://www.hcreates.design/
Contact Email: info@hcreates.design
Principle Designer: Hannah Churchill
Lead Designer: Alex Davies
Design Team: Yicheng Zeng, Pony Tseng, Changwei Zhou
Project Location: L1-EL105 MIXC World, 100 North Fujian Road, Shanghai
Completion Year: 2022
Gross Built Area: 167sqm
Photo Credits: Brian Chua
Client: Luneurs
General Contractor: Shanghai Huashun Construction
Partners: Acoustics: Zenfeel
