Liangcai Wu Eyewear Store designed by Dayuan Design (China)

Jun 5

With a rich history spanning over 300 years, Liangcai Wu Eyeglasses stands proudly as one of China's most influential time-honored brands. As the influence of Generation Z gracefully permeates the consumer market, there's a growing trend among consumers to focus on offline shopping experiences and a sense of identity in consumption. For Liangcai Wu Eyeglasses, renowned for its optical expertise, the flagship store on Nanjing Road serves as a renewed starting point, embarking on a journey to seamlessly blend the inheritance of its unique culture with a youthful design sensibility. The aim is to narrate the extensive history of this time-honored brand in a more agile and graceful manner.

The development of Mr. Wu Liangcai's family lineage began with the jade business. We explore the "craftsmanship" process of transforming raw stone into exquisite jade as the core of the brand story, guiding people through the entire process of jade carving using spatial elements. The entrance on the first floor sets the scene with stone mountains and caves, creating an authentic quarry ambiance. The rough texture and irregular gaps on the wall surface reflect nature's sedimentation and the traces left by craftsmen over time. Within the limited retail area, our design aspires to express a harmonious fusion of modern and traditional, delicate and rugged elements. At the end of the first-floor space, an installation inspired by jade grinding tools from a millennium ago, accompanied by subtle grinding sounds, guides people through a "Time Corridor" to reach the second floor. Here, time-treated jade surfaces blend seamlessly with a modern space, transforming into a youthful portrayal of a century-old time-honored brand.

The central "Mountain Quarry" art installation embodies the brand's enduring history, while simultaneously optimizing the brand's existing IP image. The mechanical metallic appearance lends it a futuristic touch. In the retail area, inspiration is drawn from distinctive Chinese displays like medicine cabinets and herb cabinets, reimagined with a modern language to create displays and storage methods that are both fashionable and eyeglass-friendly.

Beyond shopping, the space offers additional functionalities, including eyeglass exhibitions, a coffee shop, and a VIP fitting area. This multifunctionality transforms the space into a hub for social and cultural experiences, increasing customer retention rates and establishing a tighter brand connection. Furthermore, the project's sustainability in operation is evident on multiple fronts. By employing movable installations, it sidesteps substantial overhauls, ensuring the project can adapt to varying functional needs over the next three to five years. This not only aids in reducing environmental impact but also delivers a more economically efficient business model, offering a safeguard for sustained development.