The Hyundai Department store VIP Lounge Sage designed by Labotory began with the phrase MyeongSeon, written by Junghee Kim as a gratitude to a friend who gifted tea. Through the story, the form, the function, and the color of a cup of tea was advanced into design languages.
First, the shape of the tea was spatialized through the elaborate curves of the teacup, elegant tea tray, and flawless arrangement. Second, we spatialized the functions of a tea into an independent space of tranquil relaxation and its role of communication. Lastly, the colors of clear transparent tea, lively and lightness of the teacups, and the warmth of the tea tray were reflected throughout the space.
The elaborate curve resembling the curve of a teacup comes in from the outside facade and the entrance creating an empathetic passage escorting the customers in. At the front of this passway, the clean stream of the pour of a tea was expressed from the entrance through the lights allowing you to feel the identity of the Sage.
In the process of entering into the space, you will face the counter on the side and by opening up the public takeout- zone on the right, it makes it able to effectively use the irrational passway of the existing diagonal line. The structure of asymmetrical separation of the low partitions and the flower bed lights and the elegant curve of the ceiling gives you the comfort of being in a warm teacup.
For this space, unlike the other branches, the furniture and structural placement was not placed in the center but instead has an asymmetrical structure. Through this kind of structure, labotory created a private space that is not directly visible from the front and not overwhelming. They hoped that a single wall and a single partition is not seen as a common wall structure but an object of a vast piece of work.
Labotory gave a lot of thought into the sequence in order to give life to this monotonous structure and passway and they tried to newly deliver the comfortable and unique experience of the existing Sage VIP Lounge.
