THE BOX Chaowai | YOUNG POWER CENTRE, BEIJING

THE BOX Chaowai | YOUNG POWER CENTRE, BEIJING

Chaowai Street, once a bustling shopping area known as the three-mile-long street, has seen its commercial vibrancy fade over time. The Chaoyang district business circle, once thriving, has gradually fallen into disrepute. The former Quintessence Shopping Centre, located north of Chaowai Street, east of Fangcaodi West Street, south of Chaowai South Street, and west of Dongyue Temple Square and Shenlu Street, epitomizes the traditional commercial building of the past.

Through the collaboration of the Beijing Chaoyang District Government, Kuntai Group, and URF Group, Kuntai Mall has been transformed into THE BOX Chaowai | Youth Power Centre, reviving its vitality and becoming a symbol of youth culture in Beijing.

Why is THE BOX Chaowai So Popular?

With an average daily customer flow of over 30,000, THE BOX Chaowai has become a new landmark in Beijing, attracting many fashionable people in the city. Open for trial operation since June 2023, THE BOX Chaowai has seen:

• Over 920,000 visitors
• Average daily traffic of more than 20,000 on weekdays and over 50,000 on weekends
• 75% of visitors are under 30 years old
• A total of 410,000+ individual products sold

Hundreds of exhibitions, brand, and community events have been held, with 90% of its resident brands being first shops or concept shops in Beijing, focusing on gathering youth culture brands with national tide fever.

THE BOX Chaowai creates a new social consumption scene for local young people in Beijing and shapes a new trend of "circular consumption" that suits the current generation.

The Design Concept

Young people have different living, socializing, and consumption habits, leading to unique space needs. How can we meet the diverse social, experiential, and consumption needs of young elite groups in a limited space?

To create a youthful and innovative space, we can't strictly adhere to traditional commercial design rules. Instead, we must face the shortcomings of these old rules and break them. At THE BOX, designers focus on the association between space and brand, space and social economy, and space and events. This allows brands, operators, and users to evolve a more fun social linking platform in a space that doesn't abide by traditional rules, offering freedom of choice and incubation.

Historic Mall, Revitalized

Located at 12 Chaoyangmenwai Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing, this urban renewal project aims to stimulate the city's vitality and young consumer power. The project base is adjacent to Chaowai Street in the north, Fangcaodi West Street in the east, Chaowai South Street in the south, and Dongyue Temple Square and Shenlu Street in the west. The existing structure is a typical traditional commercial building with four partial five floors above ground and two underground floors.

At the end of 2021, atelier DYML and the owner, URF, embarked on a process of co-creation. After understanding curatorial retail, the core of urban regeneration, the current building's difficulties, and the kind of vibrant commercial species Beijing needs, the designers deconstructed the old building and gave it new spatial possibilities with a bold and creative concept:

ONE BOX THREE ZONE N SPACE

The designers introduced a super big box into the center, dividing the existing building volume into three. They then connected the spaces through the big box from top to bottom, from inside to outside, in a multi-dimensional direction. This approach breaks traditional commercial atrium, dynamic line, and spatial thinking, using events triggered by curation, scenarios, and gamification as the medium to connect the spaces.

GLASS BOX

The designers retained the existing column and beam structure within the GLASS BOX, but dismantled and reorganized the floor slabs to create a 360-degree flexible and multi-path space. This space is ideal for brand launches, premieres, curated runway shows, flash mob retail, and multimedia events, making the Big Box a symmetrical, powerful, dazzling, and sacred 'space of youthful faith.'

Skycourt and Skateboard Area

Through the Big Box, heading east to the outdoor area, the designers introduced Beijing's first outdoor sky basketball court. Combined with the skateboarding area at the bottom of the elevated basketball court and the "Road Shop," this space features famous sports brands, popular coffee shops, and bars, creating a trendy gathering place for Beijing's hipsters.

GRAFFITI MARKETPLACE

Extending from the south gate of the Big Box is Beijing's first and longest graffiti market. The designers transformed the building walls into "urban canvases" for artists worldwide to create street galleries. This space, combined with a variety of street fairs, creates a weekend hotspot full of urban flair.

Dongyue Temple Square

To the west of the Big Box is Beijing's first contemporary art urban faith square. Based on Dongyue Temple's Taoism and nature concept, the designers fused sacred beliefs with trendy culture to create a preferred location for large-scale traditional and international cultural festivals, stimulating the city's vitality and spirit.

URBAN THEATER

The immersive amphitheater on the northwest side of the Big Box leads to the ground floor. URBAN THEATER combines creative lifestyle brands with coffee and food, music, film, books, curation, and performances, creating an art and lifestyle habitat in the hustle and bustle of Chaowai Street.

SKY CLUB

From the Big Box, you can go up to the FUNCTION HALL on the fourth floor and arrive at an open-air free camp. The designers have brought together trendy nightclubs, an open-air cinema, art installations, and lounge bars and clubs, providing a vibrant nightlife hub for young people who live and work in the busy city.

Redecoding

Except for the new glass curtain wall of the super big box, the designers adopted many old-fashioned transformation strategies for the building façade.

No Fixation, No Individuality

On the north façade facing Chaowai Street, the designers used a combination of square shapes and metal tensile mesh with different apertures, hanging them on the existing building wall in a concave-convex layered way. This design reflects the language of a "three-dimensional QR CODE," allowing the building to show a new face of THE BOX with no fixed, impersonal characteristics.

Street Art

On the east and south façades, the designers used graffiti to refresh the old walls. This approach preserves the existing building form, saves construction time, cost, and resources, and efficiently creates an urban art street atmosphere.

Reflections

Finally, on the west façade facing Dongyue Temple Square, the designers hung mirrored stainless steel panels outside the existing building wall. These panels reflect the surrounding environment, reducing the building's visual volume and showing respect and humility towards Dongyue Temple Square.