SKP Chengdu
An ambitious evolution of skp architecture into a landmark mixed-use masterplan with 99% of architecture lying below ground level.
SKP Chengdu is a pioneering example of luxury retail architecture and transit-oriented urban masterplanning. Conceived as a fully subterranean mixed-use destination, the project demonstrates how large-scale retail can seamlessly intertwine with landscape, infrastructure and civic life. With 99% of the built form located below ground, it fundamentally redefines the relationship between retail, public realm and the city.
- Key Info
-
- Location
- Chengdu, China
- Client
- SKP
- Services
- Architecture, Interior Design, Masterplanning, Retail Planning, Wayfinding, Consultant Coordination, Landscape Integration
- Year
- 2018 - 2020
- Area
- 370,000 m2
- Project Team
- Aldo Sanzo, Enrico Falchetti, Andrea Facchinato
- Photography
- Nick Kuratnik, Shihao Xiao
- Collaborators
-
- LANDSCAPE Design
- Field Operations
- LIGHTING Design
- Speirs Major Lighting Architecture
- ADVANCED ENGINEERING
- Eckersley O'Callaghan
- WATER FEATURES
- The Fountain Workshop
- FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERING
- Arup (Shanghai)
- STRUCTURAL AND MEP FEASIBILITY
- Buro Happold
- LOCAL ARCHITECT
- ECADI
- Awards
-
2024 – Architizer A+ – Jury Winner – Shopping Center
2024 – CRED Award – Silver Winner – Commercial – TOD
2024 – [d]arc Awards – Shortlisted – Places: High Budget
2024 – International Architecture Designs – Silver Winner – Category of Commercial Architecture Designs / Department Stores
2024 – Prix Versailles – Winner – World’s Most Beautiful Emporiums – Interior
2024 – PropertyGuru – Winner – Best Retail Interior Design (Asia & Mainland China)
2024 – The Plan – Shortlisted – Retail
2024 – World Architecture News Award – Highly Commended – Commercial
2023 – FRAME – Shortlisted – Multi-Brands Store
2023 – World Architecture Festival – Shortlisted – Completed Buildings – Shopping
2023 – World Interior News Awards – Gold Winner – Category of Retail & Consumer Design Interior
- Press
-
- Location
- Chengdu, China
- Client
- SKP
- Services
- Architecture, Interior Design, Masterplanning, Retail Planning, Wayfinding, Consultant Coordination, Landscape Integration
- Year
- 2018 - 2020
- Area
- 370,000 m2
- Project Team
- Aldo Sanzo, Enrico Falchetti, Andrea Facchinato
- Photography
- Nick Kuratnik, Shihao Xiao
- LANDSCAPE Design
- Field Operations
- LIGHTING Design
- Speirs Major Lighting Architecture
- ADVANCED ENGINEERING
- Eckersley O'Callaghan
- WATER FEATURES
- The Fountain Workshop
- FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERING
- Arup (Shanghai)
- STRUCTURAL AND MEP FEASIBILITY
- Buro Happold
- LOCAL ARCHITECT
- ECADI
2024 – Architizer A+ – Jury Winner – Shopping Center
2024 – CRED Award – Silver Winner – Commercial – TOD
2024 – [d]arc Awards – Shortlisted – Places: High Budget
2024 – International Architecture Designs – Silver Winner – Category of Commercial Architecture Designs / Department Stores
2024 – Prix Versailles – Winner – World’s Most Beautiful Emporiums – Interior
2024 – PropertyGuru – Winner – Best Retail Interior Design (Asia & Mainland China)
2024 – The Plan – Shortlisted – Retail
2024 – World Architecture News Award – Highly Commended – Commercial
2023 – FRAME – Shortlisted – Multi-Brands Store
2023 – World Architecture Festival – Shortlisted – Completed Buildings – Shopping
2023 – World Interior News Awards – Gold Winner – Category of Retail & Consumer Design Interior
- 0
- Acres
- 0
- Of Building Below Ground
- 0
- Green Coverage
- 0
- Plant Species
design vision & process
SKP Chengdu was conceived, developed and delivered in close collaboration with leading international consultants including Field Operations, Arup, Speirs Major, Buro Happold, Eckersley O’Callaghan, The Fountain Workshop and ECADI.
Designed largely through remote collaboration during the pandemic, the project transformed stringent site constraints into catalysts for innovation, shaping an evolved SKP architectural language rooted in Chengdu’s cultural and environmental context.
“I see SKP Park Chengdu like a symphony, a lengthy composition with several movements that have rhythm, a pulse and that crescendo every so often.”
— Torquil McIntosh, Co-Founder, Sybarite
arrival & landscape
Located in Chengdu’s High-Tech Zone on Tianfu Avenue, opposite the New Century Global Centre, the 700 × 370 metre site benefits from direct access to three subway lines, including Line 18 to Tianfu International Airport, and three underground parking levels accommodating over 2,400 vehicles.
At ground level, arrival is defined by SKP Park — a 190-acre public landscape conceived in collaboration with Field Operations as a ‘Botanical Quilt’, referencing the eclectic nature of the city, the park comprises 33 interconnected landscapes, and over 300 plant species, many native to Chengdu.
“Chengdu is designed as a “total environment” where buildings and interiors merge seamlessly with landscape features. It is one topography, one mosaic of interconnected spaces and experiences with some indoors, some outdoors, and some in between.”
— James Corner, Founder, Field Operations
the sunken retail experience
The transition from park to retail is carefully choreographed through sculpted staircases, canyon-like cuts in the landscape and kinetic golden baffles, with water acting as a key orienting element – each entry point is designed to maintain a symbiotic relationship between the natural and the manmade.
Beneath the surface, SKP Chengdu unfolds across five retail levels extending 30 metres below ground, structured around two primary connective arteries — K Avenue and G Avenue — which link the classic luxury department store SKP in the north with the experimental energy of SKP-S in the south.
skp: Sense of place
Spanning 120,000 square metres, SKP Chengdu brings together over 1,300 global luxury and lifestyle brands within the biophilic environment. The SKP geometric language — particularly the SKP Curve — is subtly embedded throughout, from landscape to interior architecture, fluted columns to engraved motifs, while a refined material palette of marble, terrazzo, brushed metals and carved Corian provides a cohesive yet neutral backdrop for brand expression.
skp-s: the parallel world
Building on previous SKP-S episodes in Beijing and Xi’an, SKP-S Chengdu introduces a deliberate counterpoint to SKP’s classic luxury expression. Defined by a black metal façade embedded with digital screens, the double-height Brutalist interior operates as a spiritual laboratory for next-generation experiential retail, where architecture and art converge to frame immersive, future-facing brand storytelling.
Sustainability & Smart Living Systems
By situating the retail complex below ground thermal efficiency is significantly improved through earth-sheltering, in-turn reducing cooling loads during Chengdu’s hot summers. These systems are further supported by smart energy modelling and an integrated building management system developed with Huawei.
Above ground, the Botanical Quilt functions as a living ecological system, designed with Sponge City principles to manage stormwater, enhance biodiversity and moderate microclimate through layered planting and closed-loop recycled water systems.
By transforming strict planning constraints into its defining strength, SKP Chengdu sets a new benchmark for sustainable luxury retail and landscape-led urbanism. With a public park above and a world-class destination below, the project establishes a compelling model for future-facing, mixed-use developments.
“SKP Chengdu is a valuable reference for landscape urbanism, reinvigorating urban vitality through the integration of green space, public life and architecture.”
— Domus, The Future of Urbanisation, Issue 1087, February 2024
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