For British lighting brand Original BTC’s new Taichung showroom, design firm Tuo Yuan Studio turned a former American military residence into a retail space that celebrates both British craft and Taiwanese heritage. Here, design director Hsichin Chuang tells us more about the renovation

Design Anthology: How did you first meet the client?

Hsichin Chuang: I came across Original BTC for the first time at an interior design exhibition ten years ago. At the time, only a few distributors sold BTC products in Taiwan. Many years later, I met a general agent for Original BTC in Taiwan.

What was the brief to you for the project?

The question was how to introduce a British lighting brand in Taiwan in a way that highlights its quality and craft. The key concepts that guided the project were persistence, transformation and extension.

‘Persistence’ means preserving the building’s heritage, including elements like the traditionally manufactured vents and a wall covered with graffiti. ‘Transformation’ means extending the residential space. For that, we moved the entrance to make the space wider and deeper, opened three windows that overlook the courtyard, and built a sloping glass roof to let light in. Lastly, ‘extension’ means remaining faithful to traditional Taiwanese craft and extending the life of the building.

Where is the store located and what’s great about the neighbourhood?

The 83-square-metre store is in a 46-year-old traditional Taiwanese building near the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. The neighbourhood used to be an American military residence in the 1940s. Today, it’s one of the most artistic areas in Taichung. I had the sense that BTC’s retail space should be rooted in an artistic community. It’s a quiet yet sophisticated neighbourhood that’s not too commercial.

How did you approach the project — what design narrative did you try to incorporate into the space?

We tried to appreciate the old building rather than control it, and respect its cultural heritage before we started working on the interiors. We removed the front walls, opened the front courtyard and added some indigenous plants to revitalise the building. It’s an urban regeneration project that preserves history while giving an all-new look to an old structure.

Please tell us a little about the material choices for the space.

We chose three main materials for the space: red brick, hot-rolled iron and European oak.

Red brick and hot-rolled iron both refer to and celebrate elements typically found in the UK. The iron industry was booming there in the 19th century, and this inspired me to use iron railing for the front door handle, and hot-rolled iron for the stairs and the display plates. We used European oak for the floor in a very typical Taiwanese interior style — it’s a material that has an extremely delicate texture and colour. Doing in-depth research on materials and incorporating them into specific design ideas is something very important to me.

Can you tell us about some of the custom pieces in the space?

Most of the pieces in the space were custom made. When you enter the store, you’ll immediately notice the bespoke European oak table, made with two giant steel H-beams, which are usually used in building construction. We also designed the hot-rolled iron display plates, which were made by highly skilled artisans using traditional methods.

Images / Hey!Cheese