UP boutique store — Baicai Design

UP boutique store

UP is a fashion boutique store located in Shenyang. Baicai has been entrusted to design the second brick and mortar store in Shenyang of UP, in the Changbai Island of Shenyang. It's a retail store with a front yard, and a completed façade with good privacy.

Project Info:

Status: built, 2023
Area: 158 sqm
Client: UP boutique store
Location: ShenYang
Photography: Topia Vision

The space captures the essence of the brand name, creating an ascending energy. It's like a gracefully light thread, not bounded by frames, gravity or choice. We intend for the elements in the space work just like a floating thread, keeping ground in the waves; searching for eternity in change.

A thread is what makes up the fabric, separate from brand, style, or origin. A thread exists as an objective truth. We took the concept of a thread as the overarching theme through the boutique, as a symbolic homage from the brand to the most basic element of clothing.

The thread makes up the devices and functions of the space. We use stainless steel round tubes to build a comprehensive system. The overlaying and staggering tubes form platforms for various displays. In turn, they also form scattered lines with the floor and the multiple angles of light and shade.

The ethereal clothing rails bring an essence of levitation and weightlessness. The other functional needs in the space are also shown through anti-gravity means, constantly reinforcing the brand signifier of UP.

The design breaks the limitations of the original floor plan, using the thread to “stitch” the spaces together. The separation between spaces is weakened, mirrors used to expand the dimensions. And other devices are used to reorganize and expand the space to be wholistically larger.

We hope that the design of the UP boutique store remains timeless. However the trends go, it will remain beneath the current with its solid foundation.

About

Baicai Design is a multidisciplinary design practice based in New York and Shenyang, working across architecture, interiors, exhibitions, and spatial design. Its practice spans different geographies, scales, and cultural contexts.

Founded by Kaiwen Zhao, Baicai is shaped by his interdisciplinary background in design and architecture. Zhao studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Architecture at the Yale School of Architecture. He currently teaches in the Department of Industrial Design at RISD, and has previously taught at the University of Colorado Denver, lectured at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and served as a guest critic at Syracuse University.

Baicai approaches space beyond the conventional boundaries of interior design, bringing together architectural and product design thinking to address spatial questions. Through different scales of intervention, we explore the relationships between space, objects, and human behavior.

New York:
540 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY, 11201

Shenyang:
A07International Software Park, Shenyang, China

baicaidesignoffice@gmail.com

Awards

FRAME Wellness Space of the year Shortlisted
2026

Paris Design Awards Winner
2026

MUSE Design Awards Gold Winner
2026

Dezeen China Rising Firm of the Year
2025

POSITION Award China Best 100 Young Architect
2024

Guangzhou Design Week 40 Under 40
2024

AD China 100 YOUNG
2022-2024

Architizer Best Young Interior Design Firm Special Mention
2024

Forbes China 30 Under 30
2023

FRAME Small Residential of the year Shortlisted
2023

FRAME Award Best Emerging Designer Nominee
2023

APIDA Design Award Excellence Award
2023

FRAME Pop-up Store of the Year
2022

FRAME Window Display of the Year Shortlisted
2022

WYDF TOP 100 Designer
2022

Dezeen Award Shortlisted
2022

Architecture Masterprize Best of The Bests
2022

AD China 100 YOUNG
2020-2022

Architecture Masterprize Honorable Mention
2022

KUKAN Design Award Shortlisted
2022

DNA Award Winner in Workplace Design
2022

DNA Award Honorable Mention in Workplace Design
2022

DNA Award Honorable Mention in Showroom Design
2022

K-Design Award Winner
2022

Novum Design Award Gold Award
2022

Novum Design Award Silver Award
2022

IDA Design Award Honorable Mention
2022

FRAME Best of the Month
2022 April

Design for Asia Award Bronx Award
2021

Design for Asia Award Excellence Award
2021

IDEA Design Award Finalist
2021

Golden Pin Design Award Winner
2021

Golden Pin Design Award Honorable Mention
2022

Press

Baicai Design’s work has received international media coverage across architecture, design, fashion, and culture. The studio has been featured in publications including Gestalten, INTERIORS, AD China, FRAME, Interior Design China, My Home, and id+c, alongside leading global platforms such as Dezeen, Leibal, Architizer, Divisare, Vogue, ELLE China, Yatzer, Cosmopolitan, gooood, Archilovers, Designverse, and Archello.