Category: Projects

The Jianliju theatre company, in an interesting examination of typology, offer a unique spectator experience where the audience plays an integral part of their performances and productions, as such the brief for their new premises in Shanghai demands a careful architectural approach to the relationships between space, event and movement. MDO selected to take on this mantle have addressed these conditions with a deliberate and exaggerated exploration of form, lighting and circulation. We have taken the cinematic expression of film noir and applied its heightened sense of drama to the atmosphere within to create a sequence of contrasting spaces that read as a montage of screenshots from a film reel.

With work of this nature the architectural theory of Tschumi, especially the 1976 Screenplays project is never far away and many of the formal strategies employed by the architect directly reference the parallels with screen editing and the time-space nature of architecture. Tools such as distortion, repetition and superimposition often used by the great directors of the film noir scene have all been applied as a method to soak the interior with all the atmosphere of a 50s Hollywood melodrama.

The theatre is accessed off a non-descript side-street in central Shanghai, the entrance door hidden at the back of an antique furniture emporium. Visitors arrive only with a time, location and number. From the door a stair leads down into the darkness and from there the circulation seeks to create a sense of departure from the world outside, a deliberate act of disorientation initiated by a dark curved corridor that emphasizes low-key lighting and unbalanced compositions leads to the spaces inside. The functions are organized into a linear arrangement of spaces, where the visitor is prevented from going backwards, as if following an unknown figure through the street at night.

Photographs by Dirk Weiblen

Signage by Evelyn Chiu

More Design Office’s new treatment spa for Hong Kong based mtm Skincare is a hidden gem accessed via a gently curving feature stair.
Situated in Chengdu’s Taikoo Li, the 400sqm spa has 2 main functions, a retail-orientated ground floor where customers can have their skin analysied by mtm’s consultants who can recommend custom-made skin products.  On the 2nd floor is expansive treatment area where the clients can receive facial treatments and massage.
As part of mtm’s China presence MDO developed a new store for the concept which highlights the scientific and bespoke nature to mtm’s service.  Referring to the brand’s Japanese origins, the new palette is neutral in colour, with natural materials of stone and timber carefully detailed, and focus on space and boundaries.
The guests meet with the consultants in specially design booths where their skin can be analyzed. The process is open, but privacy is achieved by a series of layers which draw reference from the Japanese screen (Koshi) 格子.
The two functions of retail and treatment are separated vertically.  The feature stair becomes the boundary and transition space organizing public/private, fast/slow, clinical/spa.
As guests climb the stair the ceiling folds over and the walls are lit by hidden uplights creating a warm and comforting environment.  The second floor spaces are lit with just floor washers which graze the lower walls to create a Zen like experience, taking the visitors far away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

A boutique fitness and dance studio for Z&B Fitness in heart of the French Concession. Inspired by the owner’s Scandinavian heritage MDO’s design features a simple yet elegant palette of materials.
Each space is connected by a dark threshold, creating a series of picture frames. The movements of ballet and dance framed as if in a painting.
Instead of hiding all the storage, the gym equipment is neatly organized into black metal frames. The sides of which are lined with taught black exercise bands, always under tension, kudos to the stretching and hardwork performed by the studio’s clientele.

Nestled on the top floor of a heritage apartment block in downtown Shanghai, More Design Office has created a new home for its designers, a family with a 3 month year old baby.
Continuing MDO’s investigation into transforming old and unloved apartments in the city centre, MDO have taken a 50sqm unit with 20sqm roof terrace and created a flexible design which can be completely open or closed off to allow the baby to sleep in the evening and the parents still enjoy the living area.
As the apartment was to be one of the baby’s first memories, the designer’s chose to look back to their own childhood growing up in the English countryside for inspiration; tongue and groove timber panelling, mosaic tiling in the kitchen, the smell of lemon trees on the terrace.
The kitchen was moved to the entrance, allowing for the front door to be left open connecting the terrace as an extension of the inside, allowing light and air and for the dog to run in and out.
The lounge and bedroom are arranged so that the bedroom gets the privacy, however a glass screen between the spaces allows the space to feel completely open, flooding the small apartment with daylight and a creating a much more spacious feel. Many options were considered for the screen, including movable panels, fabrics and louvers, but the design had to achieve a certain acoustic isolation and be robust enough to handle its new owners.

MDO were asked by the client to create a new brand identity for mtm across China and Hong Kong. Reflecting the brand’s Japanese roots, the design is a carefully detailed series of spaces leading the consumer through the consultation process to the treatment area. The process is open, but privacy is achieved by a series of layers which draw reference from the Japanese screen (Koshi) 格子.

MDO were the executive architects for a concept designed by Design Office from Melbourne. The project’s focus is a series of circular seating areas which connect the ground floor café to the 1st floor coffee school. These objects are finished in a quality polished terrazzo which were the result of extensive testing and mock-up trials.

Finding an affordable apartment in the center of any city is very difficult. Usually compromises need to be made and in this case we bought an apartment with poor daylight, but a great location and a plan we could reconfigure.
We wanted two key things from the apartment – a sense of space, of openness, and on the other hand, privacy.  In a small apartment these two requirements are usually at odds.
We achieved them by organizing the functions from public to private and then folding them around a central spine wall.  The spaces are kept deliberately open but privacy is achieved by controlling the view vistas, and through a series of translucent glass doors which allow daylight to penetrate through the apartment.  This move also allows the northeast facing living room to receive light from the bedroom window during the day.
On the bedroom side of the spine wall it is finished with upholstered fabric to give a close acoustic environment. The opposite side of the wall is clad with full height mirror, useful for dressing and helps to expand the sense of space in the hallway, doubling the perceived area.
In order to maximize storage space and to facilitate moving the WC and washing machine, the floor level changes through the design.  The living room steps down from the hallway creating more height, whilst the bedroom is accessed via 3 steps which gives a more intimate environment, whilst creating much needed storage space under the bed. The steps also double as informal seating when we have guests.
The Folded Apartment is situated in the heart of Shanghai’s French Concession, on the 2nd floor of a 1930’s lane house and looks onto a leafy street. It was designed and built by MDO in 2014/15

Designed in collaboration with Luk Studio, the concept is a play on the exquisite folded box, in which macaroons are sold. The unfolding motif becomes a pattern applied to the ceiling, walls and façade.
Photography by Peter Dixie.