Hermès’ new Shanghai home in a 20th-century French administration building

Henry Moore's 'Draped Reclining Figure' sculpture

The renovated New Bond Street Hermès flagship includes a grand, topiary-lined courtyard that features Henry Moore's 'Draped Reclining Figure' sculpture

(Image credit: m.stores.hermes.com)

By Nick Vinson - Art Direction

last updated 27 October 2022

in News

Shanghai's new home for Hermès occupies an early 20th-century, double-fronted, former French administration building on the corner of Huaihai Road and Songshan Road. Built out of terracotta brick and cement, and with balcony windows overlooking a pavement lined with Chinese parasol trees, it is relatively modest and discreet at only four storeys (though it provides a not-quite-so-modest 1,238 sq m of retail and exhibition space) - in stark contrast to the brightly lit façades of the neighbouring towers and retail flagships.

Buildings like this in the former French Concession are rare in Shanghai today. Hermès and Denis Montel of Rena Dumas Architecture Intérieure (RDAI) spent six years working with, or perhaps against, a 15-strong local government committee of experts charged with approving the design. Entering the store over a wide bridge and through the north façade doors, you're welcomed by familiar house codes: the Hermès motif 'Ex Libris' lit from above by 'Grecque' lighting, a ceiling-light design that traces its roots back to the brand's Faubourg Saint-Honoré store in Paris. The staircase, another key feature in Hermès stores, twists from east to west, somewhat like the tail of a dragon, softening the rigidity of the square walls.

What may be less obvious is that almost all the materials used in the exterior and interior have been sourced locally: the floor of soie grège limestone sourced in the Guìzhōu region; the first-floor carpet with a soft sheen woven in Chinese wool and silk; the walls to the east and west of the second floor, made from cross-cut elm beams reclaimed from old Chinese temples and patchworked together like cobbles; the Chinese soie sauvage shot silk taffeta lining the walls of the women's shoe lounge; the craquelure lacquer in the watch and jewellery salon, made of 15 layers and expertly applied by a Chinese master in rose silver.

The Hermès New Bond Street flagship — Following a redesigns - and doubling in size - the Hermès New Bond Street flagship has reopened its doors

Hermès’ new Shanghai home in a 20th-century French administration building — The French brand's London home has been designed by Hermès architect RDAI and led by Denis Montel to create a fitting new abode for the emporium and its new dedicated homewares department

A view of the sweeping, curved staircase of polished Venetian plaster

The open-plan second floor houses womenswear, shoes, fragrance, jewellery, stationery, equestrian and leather goods — Taking up the brand's former office space, the open-plan second floor houses womenswear, shoes, fragrance, jewellery, stationery, equestrian and leather goods

ADDRESS

Hermès
217 Huaihai Middle Road
Shanghai

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Also known as Picky Nicky, Nick Vinson has contributed to Wallpaper* Magazine for the past 21 years. He runs Vinson&Co, a London-based bureau specialising in creative direction and interiors for the luxury goods industry. As both an expert and fan of Made in Italy, he divides his time between London and Florence and has decades of experience in the industry as a critic, curator and editor.

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