It almost goes without saying that retail has become only one facet of retail spaces. As a survival reflex, so many brand and companies are opting to incorporate auxiliary areas – event, exhibition and food-and-drink are just a few – to win over consumers that swear by same-day shipping and free-returns services. And if not? Their future is precarious.

The makers behind multi-brand retailer TGY carefully considered their strategy before enlisting Ramoprimo to design a 600-sq-m store in the Chinese city of Shenyang. Naturally seeking to give their business a solid foundation, they decided to diversify and brand the shop as a ‘meeting place’ for fashion-lovers ­­– the spot wields an impressive list of functional titles: curated retail environment, flexible event area, temporary exhibition gallery, beauty centre, photo-shoot location, café and flower shop. The design concept, to embrace these needs, was for a dynamic store based on the idea of movement.

In the entrance area is a room that is functions as a stage for the work of young Chinese fashion designers; here, a programme of rotating content will be displayed. Beyond this space, an arched promenade connects the two main areas, the shop and café, and invites customers to venture to the different functional areas. As a reference to the design concept, an interactive map of the city installed on lenticular panels in the hospitality space will consistently change colour according to the movements of viewers.

To activate the curiosity of visitors throughout the whole shopping experience, different elements ‘pop up’ along TGY’s fluid pathways. Walls of curved steel envelop the interiors ­­– the metal was chosen as the primary project material due to its ability to serve as both a neutral backdrop and a tool for reactive visual effects, reflecting the shapes and colours of the clothes and temporary design settings back in a new light to consumers.