SKP Xi’an

In 2018, Sybarite unveiled the second department store for China’s leading retail operators SKP. It is the world’s largest luxury department store, at 250,000m² with 20 floors boasting over a thousand international and domestic brands and located in the ancient city of Xi’an that is home to the Terracotta Army. At the launch, Sybarite were ceremonially awarded the ‘Key to the City’.

Creating a consistent and memorable shopping, dining and entertaining experience on every floor and ensuring vertical momentum were key considerations with a building not purpose built for retail. The strategy involved breaking down the scale of the project into focussed manageable chunks to ensure that the department store would successfully interact and resonate with customers on every level. It was also paramount for the design to respect the close proximity to the ancient City Wall and Parliament building, but at the same time elegantly stand for the SKP brand.

A sense of continuity with a recognisably branded experience, SKP Xi’an shares the curve and familiar architectural language and elevated and sophisticated mix of materials which were established previously with the completion of SKP Beijing.