Aesop Yongkang

To create our sixth Taipei store, our in-house Design team looked to the neighbourhood around Yong Kang Street, developing an architectural language that intertwines the exterior and interior realms. The weather-scarred structures and humidity-dependent plant life of the adjacent park inspired a base palette of repeating neutral tiles and deep green textures. The trading floor connects seamlessly with the pavement outside, blurring the threshold where a pedestrian becomes a visitor, and vice-versa. The store’s external envelope has been curated to enhance the experience of passers-by, with a façade that blends into the streetscape, and integrated seating that offers the community a comfortable meeting point—a moment of rest to punctuate urban explorations. This tiled envelope holds a garden of scented flora, each species selected to encourage visitation by the native birds and butterflies that are integral to the surrounding ecosystems. Inside, product display shelves are made from locally sourced timber that was reclaimed from salvage yards. Ample operable windows allow for natural ventilation during the temperate months, and create visual engagement between the bustling activity of the street and the stately choreography of product demonstrations. Those happen at expansive sinks that reference subtle details of traditional Taiwanese Gongfu tea trays, in a discreet nod to the area’s vibrant teahouse culture.