Located at The West Kowloon’s Xiqu Centre, Natural is Best is an established snack food retailer. The new flagship store pays homage to Chinese Opera and Xiqu Centre; a colourful theatrical approach to its interior aesthetics.
LightOrigin Studio was engaged at the start of the project and worked in tandem with the interior designer, client and Ms. Naomi Chung (Head of Performing Arts (Xiqu)) to develop a scheme that would simulate a visit to the theatre. The challenge was to design a lighting experience with a theatrical approach while maintaining appropriate retail lighting.
The collaboration led to a design proposal that positioned lighting as a marriage between soft and spot lighting effects.
The space consists of two key zones. In the entrance vestibule, between two symbolic moongates, a highly visible blanket of lanterns creates a soft ambient glow that warmly invites its customers. The ambient glow brightly and evenly illuminates the space to create a welcoming experience, while strategically concealed LED strips directly illuminate the products on their shelves, with a soft and even glow.
Passing the second Moongate, customers transit into the main retail space where carefully curated narrow spot lights accent the different shopping zones, creating a dramatic contrast with the entry space. In the ceiling, rows of delicate red fabric are strewn to symbolise stage curtains. I positioned a series of high bay lights in arbitrary positions above these curtains to intentionally illuminate them unevenly whilst adding functional light to the space. These high bay lights would appear like stage spotlights against the black painted ceiling. Surrounding the perimeter of the space is a highlevel curved ribbon of textured off white paint, we concealed a side-lit LED strip in concealed cove to evenly uplight this ribbon, framing the space and the feature curtains within.
Throughout the store are artistic installations of Chinese Opera characters; a pair of striking hanging sculptures printed on clear acrylic of celebrated Chinese Opera artists 譚穎倫 (Alan Tam) and 杜詠心 (Christie To), are framed along the axis created by the moongates. The translucent perspex sculptures gently float above an illuminated platform, where the lighting creates iridescent layers that draw the attention of shoppers and bystanders alike.
The back of the store, as if like a stage, is the main focual point of the retail space – a stunning artwork of 瓊花女 (King Fa Lui) a current and also celebrated Chinese Opera artist, framed and illuminated in a bold black oculus. The setting, not unlike a traditional opera stage, is framed with oriental style columns to its sides whilst mounted on a lattice background. Each element is illuminated individually with a specific fixture chosen to create the optimal effect.
For this store we chose a neutral warm white (3000K) colour temperature to ensure a soft and welcoming glow. The warm lighting intentionally elevates the brand, while creating a comfortable environment evoking a nostalgic experience. High CRI fixtures were chosen to illuminate the snack products in their best light.
