A 1950s Factory Becomes a Furniture Showroom

Shanghai-based Atelier tao+c transformed a 1950s factory into a multidimensional, terrazzo-clad showroom for emerging furniture brand JOLOR

When emerging furniture label JOLOR, which began as an e-commerce platform in 2015, was ready to open a physical showroom, its founders reached out to Shanghai-based multidisciplinary design studio Atelier tao + c with a brief to convert a 1950s mining machinery factory into a concept store that can also function as a multipurpose event and exhibition space.

Stepping into the 740-square-metre showroom feels like being sucked into a monochromatic vacuum. ‘The monotone charcoal terrazzo offers a simple and abstract background that helps the furniture pieces really stand out,’ explains Chunyan Cai, lead designer and co-founder of Atelier tao+c. ‘The material is dark and muted, which fits well with the various colours and textures of the furniture.’

Sectioning the cavernous rectangular space are two newly added walls that run the length of the interior, dividing the area into a bigger exhibition space and two aisles on either side of it, with a new mezzanine floor over the new walls. Curved glass doors and semi-circular openings offer a glimpse of the products from various angles in the showroom, while also softening the colder and more rigid structural features. Two sets of staircases — one straight, one spiral— are placed at either end of the ground-floor space and lead customers up the mezzanine floor. Here, the designers attached an upside-down white cone to the roof truss in order to refracts light throughout the space, creating a stark contrast with the darker spaces below.

Text / Nicole Chim
Images / Xia Zhi