Oculus Designed Suning Expo Retail Stores Open in China

Oculus designed the lighting for the flagship Suning Expo Retail Store in Nanjing and other rollout stores in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou in collaboration with MulvannyG2, architects based in Bellevue, Washington. Suning is one of the largest appliance and electronics retailers in China, and the upgrade included all areas—architecture, lighting, display, wayfinding, graphics and signage. The stores range from 97,000 sft. to 538,000 sft., and the majority of the design was completed in just 5 weeks!

In terms of lighting, we looked at the local luminaire manufacturers that Suning has a prior relationship with, and simple solutions and details that were easily replicable and scalable. In China, retail lighting levels tend to be higher than those in the US, and the design took that expectation into account. With our retail experience, we know that in many situations, the layout of the general lighting luminaires affords some flexibility, so even with simple fixtures, an aesthetically pleasing ceiling layout is possible. The design exploits this “loophole” in lighting design to creates a sense of rhythm and movement in the space while using the designated fixtures and delivering the required lighting levels. While the sales floor lighting is similar in all stores for branding, consistency, and maintenance, lighting design was individually designed for the entries, entry lobbies, elevator lobbies and atrium spaces to give every store its own unique identity.

Stop by the stores when in these cities to select from (literally) hundreds of varieties of every electronic product type.