SKP Chengdu

Client: SKP

SKP Chengdu is a first for luxury retail master planning and constitutes a new blueprint for subterranean mixed-use retail and lifestyle. The sunken department stores of SKP & SKP-S and retail and hospitality avenues were designed as a brand-new model to break new ground and stand as a branded diversified shopping destination for fashion and future retail trends globally. Launched in December 2022, SKP Chengdu presents a new era for sustainable retail developments in China with a focus on building communities and demonstrates the possibilities of brand extensions and the flexibility and scalability of the interior design concept and associated materials and codes.

The challenge was that nothing could be built above ground level being within a green belt (700 x 370m). The solution was to create a sustainable parkland as a gift to the citizens of Chengdu following a commitment that a substantial green area ratio is upheld hence the need for a biophilic design where architecture and nature sit perfectly in harmony. The ‘Sponge City’ concept has been applied– a new urban construction model for water retention and strengthening ecological infrastructure. The green space rating for SKP Park Chengdu takes the lead in applying the new model of carbon neutrality. This is part of green building standards in China and the Chinese Government’s goal of having green buildings account for 30% of new construction projects from 2020. 

The ingenuity of building at such a low level without the usual connotations of darkness that are naturally assumed with sitting below ground requires vision paired with a strategy that is satisfactory to stringent building codes. A moat was created as a crucial aspect for this purpose. 

SKP Chengdu demonstrates three-dimensional transportation, green ecology and high-end commerce in a low-carbon city development and is an innovative smarty city development.