Lotte opens futuristic food market store in Seoul

What does a modern deli or ‘futuristic market’ look like? One answer is the recently opened 18,400 sq m space in the Lotte store in Gyeongi-do, Seoul. Spread across two floors, and with a mix of better-end provisions and a large number of restaurants, this is a place that doesn’t use the familiar repurposed wood cladding, substituting instead brushed and curved metal, long walkways and neutral tiled flooring.

This is a huge space and to a large extent consists of a series of shop and restaurant-in-shop elements. Note should be made of the lighting. This is warm and soft, providing a contrast with the smooth but hard nature of the various hi-tech food shops and eateries. In a number of instances, the ambient light is boosted at shop level by lighting that may focus on outlining a ‘shop/stall’ at floor level or on the canopy above it.

The futuristic feel to the whole is added to by features such as an undulating series of metal planes in a void above one of the island counters and more brushed metal overhead with the plant and trunking being left exposed.

The design is the work of London-based gpstudio and it confirms once again how Seoul is in the retail interiors vanguard.