Sybarite has created a luxurious, futuristic and standalone cinema for SKP - with its own strong and scalable design language that will complement the luxury retailer's existing brand. Spanning two floors, which are linked with an iconic, brutalist, poured-concrete staircase, the space illustrates how Sybarite has created a design language that can be integrated between the floors, walls and ceilings to develop a sculpted, luxurious environment and a recognisable brand.
Each of the seven screens at the SKP Cinema at SKP Xi'an - two double-height Halls, two VIP Halls, a Kids' Hall, a Theatre Hall and a Love Hall - has a signature geometrical stacking effect across the ceiling and walls similar to that of an armadillo shell. This design highlight connects the ceiling and the walls, with the curvaceous offset also allowing a gap for air-conditioning and subtly diffused lighting. Aside from the multi-hued Kids' Hall, each screen has its own single color identity, such as red for the Love Hall, with seats matching the walls. To accommodate celebrities attending screenings, the SKP Cinema also has incorporated a Green Room and VIP event space with a brushed brass cladded bar, made up of serrated semicircles with an oriental black marble top.
In most cinemas, the design of the communal areas is hardly a consideration, with customers arriving just before their film starts and leaving immediately after the screening. The considered, refined design of the communal parts at the SKP Cinema - which includes bars, a RENDEZ-VOUS café concession and point-of-sale areas - invites cinema-goers to stay for longer, meeting friends and family before and after watching a film.
While the marbles and metals in the communal areas are used across the SKP retail brand, Sybarite has varied the tone of those materials to ensure the SKP Cinema has a unique aesthetic. In addition, Sybarite has introduced fabrics and other materials that are not regularly used in SKP retail stores. Among the key features in those spaces are the bespoke pendant lights, created by Sybarite from natural fibreglass, which give off a beautifully diffuse glow.
Photography: Kristen Pelou