Project Archives

Gurney Food Hall, one of the largest and hottest dining establishments in popular tourist destination Penang, Malaysia

GARDE designed the interiors of Gurney Food Hall, a new upmarket dining establishment at Gurney Plaza, one of the biggest and most popular shopping malls in popular tourist destination Penang, Malaysia. GARDE was also awarded the “Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021-2022” under the category of Interior Design/Leisure Interiors.

Opened in October 2020, Gurney Food Hall is fast gaining popularity as Penang Island’s largest and most exclusive dining establishments, with a maximum capacity of 600 people, making it one of the most talked about restaurant mall in the world. Located in the Straits of Malacca, western of the Malay Peninsula, Penang Island has long been a port of call for trading ships and is one of the most important gathering places in Southeast Asia. Penang has a rich and diverse culinary scene and is consistently ranked as one of the world’s top culinary destinations.

The theme for the design of the new food hall features history of the city and its food culture are deeply intertwined. It was designed to create a sophisticated space that conveys the culture, food and art of Penang Island. Garde decided to divide the space into four zones: the Wharf, the Harbour, the Palm and the Patio, all of which are icons of the city and symbols of its success and development.

The “Wharf Zone” is the first place where traders set foot on Penang Island. The cool, crisp blue of the sea and the arched entrance provides a nice welcome to its guests. The ‘Harbour Zone’, a bustling and vibrant area symbolizes the industrial heart of Penang. The “Palm Zone” represents the rich nature of Penang with traditional handicrafts that translate into a warm and serene space. Finally, the ‘Patio Zone’ is an inviting area bathed in sunshine. Whichever zone one visits, one is assured of a pleasurable experience including outstanding meals with a taste of Penang’s scenery.

The Wharf showcase contemporary street lamps and building signs

The Port is adorned with a nautical motif

The Palm features lush trees and rattan lamps that give a native feel

The Patio presents a grand abstract wooden obche with light curtains

Winner of the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2021!
Interior Design category Leisure Interior category

About the Asia Pacific Property Awards
The Asia Pacific category of the International Property Awards, organised by International Property Media Ltd. It is the most prestigious and widely recognised design award in Asia. Now in its 27th year, the awards recognise excellence in commercial and residential real estate in 25 countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region in categories such as Development, Architecture and Interior Design. Around 80 experts rigorously judge the entries, focusing on design, quality, service, innovation, originality and commitment to sustainability.

Scope of work
Concept planning, basic planning, basic design, implementation design, design supervision

Property Information,
Gurney Food Hall
Opening date: 15 October 2020
Location: 4th Floor Gurney Plaza, Gurney Drive, 10250 George Town, Penang Malaysia
Structure: 4 floors above ground (4th floor)

Tokyo Tatemono, Project to Relocate Head Office – New style office where lively workers generate a new energy.

Project

In 2020, GARDE was involved in the relocation project of Tokyo Tatemono’s head office, and was responsible for concept planning, basic and implementation design, as well as project management. Located in front of the Yaesu Exit of Tokyo Station of the former company’s headquarters, it has become the new target for a large-scale redevelopment project. The company decided to relocate its head office functions to the Tokyo Tatemono Yaesu Building and will take approximately five years until completion. Tokyo Tatemono has been providing offices for various large-scale projects based in the city center, situated in middle of the global city of Tokyo.

GARDE’s concept of office design
Last year, the concept of “redesigning the way we work,” was launched and started in 2019. Garde’s objective was to take the concept of ABW (Activity Based Working), which has been popular in Japan since around 2018 and take it a step further and embody it into office design.

Companies are expected to provide a comfortable environment for better work-life balance, or more specifically, their QOL, and enable them to perform at a higher level. This will lead to improved productivity and business performance, and ultimately to the realization of sustainability as a company. Garde designs the office in such a way that each employee can excel and their energy and productivity can influence other team members and departments to create new value and evolve as individuals.

Design Concept
What GARDE proposed for Tokyo Tatemono is an office that creates a new “flow”; a small but vigorous flow that starts with an individual or a small team, that will become an even larger flow involving those around it. The value created by this flow will ripple out into the city, and eventually return from the city to the office, which is the underlying image of this design.

The mechanisms for creating flow are arranged in a variety of ways. Not only are there free-address desks in the department available, but there are also several spaces that can be used for multiple purposes, rather than simply allowing people to freely choose their seats. For example, by removing barriers and creating free lines of flow, some areas are open so more interaction and cooperation can naturally occur, while others can be made to be moderately closed off in order to enhance focus and concentration.

Atelier Zone
Work can be done in a space that inspires creativity, surrounded by bookshelves lined with specialized texts.

Park Zone
Adding greenery to the space, giving the comfort of being in a park and induce imagination

Scandiamoss
A wall of soothing natural moss creates a relaxing space and enables communication that transcends barriers

Concentration booths
Quiet booths that block out sound increase concentration and work efficiency

Creating a comfortable space based on data
Another feature of this office is that, not only is it beautiful and comfortable from a sensory point of view, but its layout and capacity have been determined based on data-based analysis. For this office relocation project, Tokyo Tatemono conducted a survey of the hourly attendance rate of employees, the distribution of where they tend to stay, and the occupancy rate of conference rooms, including an online questionnaire for employees. By incorporating various indicators into a matrix, Garde was able to survey each space and uncover problem areas. By reflecting the results of this analysis in the design, Garde produced a more effective work environment, providing a space that matches the actual situation.

Scope of work
Concept planning, basic planning, basic design, implementation design, supervision
Scope of floors: 2F, 3F, 5F, 7F, 8F, 9F, 10F (*Floors 2F, 3F, and 5F are partial)

Property Information
Location: Tokyo Tatemono Yaesu Building, 1-4-16 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Scale: 10 floors above ground, 2 floors below ground
Area occupied by Tokyo Tatemono: 7,678.44m2
Relocation Period: From May to September 2020
Number of Tokyo Tatemono workers: approx. 570

The Royal Park Canvas Ginza 8 – A place where people gather to create something new

Project

The Royal Park Canvas Ginza 8 was designed by GARDE with the aim of stylizing common areas of the hotel. The concept lies in the creation of a canvas, a meeting place where creations are made when people gather. They prefer not to call it a hotel, as they envision the space to be non-traditional, having its own style and formality. They see this as a meeting point where a masterpiece is created simply by being there.

2F CANVAS LOUNGE

M2F FLAVORS & SOUND CULTURE LOUNGE

Co-working spaces have now become the new standard in today’s dynamic working environment. Since its opening, Canvas has provided a high-quality and comfortable space where people can spend their time working and being creative.

Ms. Hiroko Seki, General Manager, shares how customers are actually using the space and the current initiatives:

“The Royal Park Canvas Ginza 8 celebrated its second anniversary last March 20, 2021. We are grateful to our guests from Japan and overseas, our partner companies, the local community, and all of our hotel staff for helping us reach this milestone despite a being in difficult times due to the pandemic. Our brand, Canvas, is an innovative hotel concept within Royal Park Hotels.

Our team does not wear uniforms or have to conform to any style as we adapt the Canvas philosophy of fun, localization and connection. Our staff believes in having fun while working and creating fresh ideas every day to make the hotel a better place to stay. In the first year of operation, we held regular events as a place for guests to connect and continue to with events for networking and content sharing. Currently, as a place to connect online, we hold events mainly on Instagram on an irregular basis.

In this significant time of the ‘new normal‘, I am looking forward to seeing what more we can do in the future. In spite of the challenges in the tourism industry and global economy, we will continue to put safety and security first but never forget to have fun, so we hope you will continue to visit The Royal Park Canvas Ginza 8.“

13F CONCEPT ROOM

Work description: Hotel common area design

The Royal Park Canvas Ginza 8
Opening date: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Location: 8-9-4 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Structure and scale: Steel-framed structure, 14 floors above ground, 47.7 meters high
Number of guest rooms: 121 (floors 3-13)
Ancillary facilities: 1st floor cafe, 2nd floor lounge, private kitchen, music library, fitness gym, 13th floor concept room, 14th floor restaurant

THE ME Launches with New Retail Concept

Project

Fashion label, THE ME, opened their first store on July 2020 in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Branding and design agency GARDE was involved in concept planning and construction of their new concept store, where products are customized based on customer’s taste and style.

“Our products are not mass-produced and are tailored to each individual” is the concept of THE ME. This newly launched brand does not sell ready-to-wear clothes and creates clothing that reflects customer’s personal preference based on body shape, size, and silhouette. THE ME uses cutting-edge technology with their 3D body scanner located in a private fitting room.

By producing clothes only after receiving orders from end users, THE ME aims to create a sustainable fashion brand by eliminating excess inventory and avoiding overproduction as well as the unnecessary waste in the industry.

Personalized and efficient customer service is expected at THE ME. Customers take a maximum of 90 minutes to try out their clothing, and payment is made online only after customers are fully satisfied with their orders. The delivery time takes about two weeks after payment.

The store concept revolves around the idea of “clearing the fog”, where the customers see the store as a place for clarity and comfort while shopping. The key color scheme of the store uses navy and silver, which are the same as the brand colors of THE ME, creating a stylish atmosphere. They also balanced this with warm materials and colors so that customers can relax and choose clothes, in a gender-neutral space that is comfortable for everyone.

Scope of work: Concept Planning, Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction

THE ME Jingumae
Opening: July 7, 2020
Location: 2F iori Omotesando, 6-31-11 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Phone number: 03-4233-4000
Hours of operation11:00-20:00
Holidays: Tuesday
Floor space: 248.19m2

Next- Generation Shopping Mall Joy Breeze opens in Daxing, Beijing

Project

In last December of 2020, leading Chinese developer, GRAND JOY, and real estate investment company GoHigh Capital, launched JOY BREEZE, a new brand of next-generation shopping malls in Daxing District, Beijing. The retail and entertainment hub were conceptualized and designed by international branding and design agency GARDE.

Located at south of the capital, Daxing district is a rapidly developing area where the biggest international airport in Beijing was built. The area comprises of young, nouveau riche families aspiring to an affluent suburban lifestyle. Joy Breeze is fast becoming a landmark in the city, a shopping mall that offers a stylish, high-quality, and sophisticated lifestyle for new families.

The architectural design concept “Lanterns” was based on former fire shrine revering the Fire God on the site. Its interior design “Lights” aiming to illuminate and enrich people’s lives in the community. The center of the atrium has a stairwell resembling a lantern, with design motifs of “flickering fire” and “rising heat” to create a dynamic space with an ascending vertical axis.

Joy Breeze is a breath of fresh air from a new era, with plans for further expansion starting after the development of their first store. It is attracting customers not only from Beijing but from the rest of China, so we can expect to hear more about this brand in the upcoming years.

Description: Interior Concept Development, Interior Concept Design, Interior Schematic Design, Interior Design Development, Supervision

Beijing Daxing JOY BREEZE

Opened: 12/25/2020
Location: No.38, East Street, Huangcun County, Daxing District, Beijing
Structure: Seven floors above ground and one floor below.
Total floor area: Approximately150,000㎡ (including parking area).