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Two years after opening its door in George Town, Mano Plus - a select store that carries a carefully curated and unique selection of products - has branched out to GMBB, a creative community mall in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur that believes in creating meaning by working together with artists, artisans, and the public.
While Mano Plus heritage store in George Town is a 7500 sq ft stand-alone colonial mansion with a rich background history; Mano Plus GMBB, on the other hand, is much smaller in footprint, akin to a compact version of its flagship store. Given the stark difference in the historical, cultural and social contexts of both stores, and the design ethos of the founder in curating every store to stay true to its identity contextually, it is clear from the outset that the design direction for the new Mano Plus at GMBB is anything but a copy and paste version of the heritage store in George Town.
Being located in a mall presents a different set of challenge to the interior design of the store as Mano Plus always views their store as a means to craft a unique experience for the store-goers, to break the banality of the generic shopping experience. In order to gain more floor space in a confined footprint and to enrich the spatial experience within, a new mezzanine floor is inserted at the rear half of the store’s footprint by taking advantage of the high volume of the space itself, to introduce a book and magazine collection floor with the flexibility wherein small events can take place. The mezzanine floor overlooks the double volume merchandise ground floor flanked by two towering round pillars. Instead of attempting to make the pillars less visible, they are instead being accentuated at the height of the mezzanine floor with a pair of chamfered faux beams to enhance their presence and lend a grandeur symmetrical visual axis to the space upon entering from the side entrance via GMBB’s main lobby.
To stay true to the notion of letting the products speak for themselves as well as an allusion to a fresh start for Mano Plus in a new city on a blank canvas, the entire interior space is painted in white, including all the cabinetry fitouts. ‘Play to display’ is the design approach to create a different interesting setting for the product displays, for instance, the pointed shelves that are designed in response to the tight space and angled wall in the store, allow the merchandise to be displayed in two different angled surface on one front, at the same time giving the illusion as though the wall backing the shelves is straight instead of angled. The white-on-white nature of the interior space allows the display design to be playful and yet self-effacing enough so as not to claim the attention away from the products displayed on them. The products themselves become vibrant highlights on the shelves, morphing in colour and form every time the store keeper adjusts how and where the products are displayed.
From Mano Plus heritage store in George Town to Mano Plus GMBB store in Kuala Lumpur, Mano Plus celebrates the unique diversity of its myriad products displayed on its shelves as much as the diversity of the character and design context of each store in these two locations, and hopefully in many more stores to come in the near future.