Situated in a historic building on the iconic banks of Ningbo’s Yongjiang River, Nordic Books is a newly conceived design and cultural experience center, dedicated to showcasing Nordic design, publications, lifestyle, culture and values. In conceptualizing the four-story premise, Yatofu Creatives sought to evoke the soft contemporary feel of Nordic design, while preserving traces of the building’s historical past. This honest approach expands upon the foundation of the project’s core purpose: to promote the authentic values behind Nordic lifestyle and to showcase an expanded understanding to an international audience. The programming of the space is separated by the different floors, but comes together to form a cohesive experience. It features a dessert bar on the first floor, a showroom/gallery on the second, a retail area on the third, and a multi-purpose event and co-working space on the fourth floor. Our starting point was contemplating material textures as artifacts of time. A combination of preserved original surfaces, organic materials, and finishes that show the textural strokes of manual application, come together to form a story that evokes the integration of time and people. Every aspect of Nordic Books is designed to reenforce and enrich the customer’s understanding of Nordic design and lifestyle; from the soft yet vibrant color palette of each individual floor, to the material-rich fixtures that are custom designed for the space. We envisioned Nordic Books as a bridge between Nordic creatives and the Chinese audience, where dialogues about culture and values can be shared. In selecting the different materials used in the space, Yatofu Creatives always strives to choose high-quality materials that can stand the test of time as to eliminate unnecessary waste. Many fixtures are also designed to be versatile and multifunctional as to increase their use and to minimize the need for extra production. Instead of traditional paint for the walls and ceilings, micro-cement was chosen as a material due to its durability, relatively lower carbon footprint and non-existent volatile emissions. Most stone elements in the space are also locally sourced and produced, and original brickwork and stonework were preserved wherever possible to eliminate unnecessary waste. Nordic Books is a stand-out project of its category due to its complexity of context and its successful demonstration of how interior design can support a Social Space in creating deeper meaning and engagement. The project contemplates what a culturally authentic Social Space can become when it crosses from one culture to another, and seeks to translate this nuanced representation through a tangible and physical environment.
Nordic Books
Yatofu Creatives
Bronze

1 / 9

Lorcan O'Herlihy
Founder, Design Principal
at Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects [LOHA]
5
5
4
5
4.75

Nic Granleese
CEO and Cofounder
at BowerBird
5
6
5
6
5.5

Simon Goff
Founder and Director
at Floor_Story
5
5
4
5
4.75

Ting Yu
Chief Architect
at Wutopia Lab
5
6
4
6
5.25

Frank Lee
Founder and President
at Shanghai Fengyuzhu Culture Technology
5
6
5
5
5.25

Janne van Berlo
Founder
at Atelier van Berlo
5
5
7
5
5.5

Tobias Geisler
Cofounder
at VAVE Studio
5
5
5
6
5.25

Nathan Watts
Creative Director
at Interstore
4
4
5
4
4.25

Julio Kowalenko
Cofounder
at Atelier Caracas
5
6
6
5
5.5

Victoria Yakusha
Founder and chief architect
at Yakusha Studio & FAINA Collection of live design
Very aesthetic, stylish space...
7
8
9
7
7.75

Jeff Yrazabal
President
at SRG Partnership
5
5
6
5
5.25

Akanksha Deo Sharma
Designer
at Ikea
5
7
6
5
5.75
Designer
Client
Nordica (Ningbo) Cultural Communications
Floor area
571 ㎡
Completion
2020
Project Photography
Construction
Ningbo Guanyang Architectural Decoration Co., Ltd.