Situated in Guangzhou CBD Zhujiang New Town, a celebrated community gathering commercial, living, fashion and cultural landmarks, BIBU is a visually appealing pet boutique with a strong sense of character. One Fine Day Studio & Partners(refer to as ofD) was tasked to draw its retro yet novel store image and create an immersive consumption space with rich storytelling and aesthetical joy. The brief called for a full-equipped pet service centre encompassing from pet food and supplies retail, boarding and caring, training to vet clinic. 

Accordingly, ofD conceived BIBU as a multifunctional “space ark”, and carefully divided the two-storey structure and 600-square-meter venue into multiple zones as specified by their different request in space and privacy, arranging the inviting ground floor for retail, upper mezzanine area for caring and the whole second floor space for veterinary. 

Meanwhile, café DOPPIO——featured as an eye-catching entrance——is slotted in to cater for customers’ waiting time and provide a platform for social. Beyond functional structure planning, ofD intended to unfold a multiple time and space odyssey for guests, merging together visual elements with a nod to sci-fi classic “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Space-Age-worthy and symbolic architectural language and sensory re-imaginations of Retrofuturism aesthetic. Layered hues and accessorised details, varying in accordance to space settings, imbued BIBU in a dynamic theatrical atmosphere. 

Departing away from previous functionalism confined design approaches for pet shops, ofD’s vision provides a brand new perspective for constructing pet spaces. Creatively introducing “Space Age” as the key motif and interpreting the space with a nostalgic and experimental style, both are derived from ofD’s deep insight on the preferences of pet industry’s main consumers. And the practice also contains ofD’s reflections on the post-pandemic world and current issues, aiming to build a space experience that goes beyond current time and space spectrum and connects with the past to seek new hopes for the future. 

BIBU pet store project is innovative in the way that ofD brings oft-used spatial narrative concept into the design of spaces for an emerging industry, setting an unprecedented example for upcoming projects. Positioning consumer experiences at heart of the design, ofD made a contribution to BIBU’s brand value with storytelling spaces, presenting timeless beauty in this pause of time for guests to resonate and interact with the venue.