Zhong Shu Ge Book Store, China
When traditional bookstores are facing challenges, there are new book stores breaking out into the market with cutting-edge interior designs that welcome customers who are either attracted by the books or the ambiances.
Zhong Shu Ge located in Suzhou, China is one of the new concept bookstores that appears to be luxurious, modern, and attractive.
It is located on the 3rd floor of Suyue Centre. Unlike other stores that are in the higher level, Zhong Shu Ge is obviously recognizable from the street, even if you are looking from far away. This bookstore is vibrant, colorful, yet unforgettable from both inside or outside.
The space in this store is divided into four main areas: crystal castle, firefly tunnel, rainbow new utopia, and kids’ playground.
Starting the journey from the crystal castle, you will find the area for new books. All book samples are displayed on standing acrylic panels. From far away, it seems like books are floating in the air, brings out extreme curiosity from each person coming by.
Moving forward to the firefly tunnel, lights are dimmed, ceiling and floor are dark, but you will see long fiber optic lights dropping off from the ceiling. The lights are mimicking fireflies in the darkness, represents that reading may not always be joyful, but reading brings hope to the future.
The future you will get from reading will be colorful, just like the next destination—- the rainbow utopia. It’s the main show off of this bookstore. The vibrant color viewable from the outside is from this area. Lighting becomes bright from the windows as well as artificial lighting in the space. Café and cashier on one side, bookshelves, and reading areas on the other side. The architect-designed the rainbows with aluminum boards that fabricated with special hole patterns. When the holes exceed 50% of the entire area, the aluminum board will not look like metal, instead, it has a foggy feel. When many boards like this overlay, it creates a hazy feeling.
They used bookshelves, countertops, steps to create the feeling of a mountain, river flow, islands, and even desserts. The aluminum boards not only act as theme elements but also as area dividers to separate the book zones by subject. Readers can hide behind the rainbow dividers to enjoy their personal reading time.
Last but not least is the kid’s playground by the end of this experience. Architects created small fun spaces for kids by adding fun boxes so they can explore the area and find books that could be hiding somewhere.
When bookstores are not attracting customers through physical books, providing extraordinary shopping or reading experiences could be the key to unlock the potential market. After all, everyone loves the culture of reading.
https://www.yit.com/media/20204
https://www.archdaily.cn/cn/877844/jin-shu-cai-hong-li-de-shu-dian-su-zhou-zhong-shu-ge-wutopia-lab
