Header: Yuuuun Studio
STILL YOUNG has just finished Future City, a DESCENTE shop spread over four separate buildings in the China Central Place complex in Beijing, with a plaza in the middle. Since the four buildings had always been apart, the designers hung one silver-white band around all of them, looping it across the façades and around the plaza so the group can now be perceived as a single shop. It opened in December of 2025, with each of the four buildings holding one of the brand’s lines.
One long silver band
As mentioned above, the design team created a façade system built from wide silver-white bands that seem to be floating just above the building itself. Their shape was inspired by the Möbius strip, a band given a half twist and connected back to its own end so that its surface never stops. The interior of the shop follows the same vision, as there, the corridors connect the buildings into one loop that visitors can walk without ever having to backtrack.
Where the bands cross in the upper floors, they leave long lens-shaped openings, with some having been filled with glass moulded into a rough ice-like relief, lit from behind once it gets dark. The ground floor below has windows covering it from end to end, so the shop floors, the mannequins and the ski gear are all on show to the street.
Since every panel of the façade curves differently, each one had to be cut to its own shape. The design team therefore worked directly with the fabricators to make sure that what had been drawn could actually be made and fitted on site. Photovoltaic panels were placed on the roofs, and the glass is low-E, which is to say that it carries a thin metallic coating that lets light in while holding heat back.
The open plaza
The four buildings surround an open plaza with stone flooring and a wide canopy made of white steel ribs and cables, which protects visitors from the elements while also letting daylight enter the store. Low benches and a small fountain that recirculates its own water offer visitors a moment to rest, and since the canopy leaves the sides open, the plaza works as a half-outdoor room that passers-by can cross without going into the shops.
The four buildings
Skis and a gondola
The first building is the one with only professional sports gear, and the designers gave it an entrance they call “the snow cave”, where the ceiling is folded into angular grey facets. A full-size cable car cabin can be found here, alongside a mannequin on skis mounted on a plinth of white crystal spikes.
Past the entrance, the shop itself is much plainer, with grey floors and walls, a black open ceiling hung with track lighting and boots displayed on backlit shelves. The fitting rooms and the VIP area are small and quiet, lined in curves and a material with an icy texture that scatters the light passing through it.
Timber and grids
The second building is home to BLANC (which means “white” in French), the line under which DESCENTE sells its ALLTERRAIN clothing. Since this collection is sold on its craft and the quality of its materials, the designers dropped the snow and ice theme. Laminated timber arches become the spotlights and are complemented by a timber ceiling, with timber grid screens between the bays. The colours are woody and stand out against crisp white walls.
Green canopies
Golf takes the third building, where green stems pop against a grey background, much like the crowns of trees. Mirrored metal and long curved lines remind one of the swing of a gold club, and a concrete staircase with a glass balustrade climbs through the double-height space.
White rooms for children
The children’s building is all dressed in white, with curved walls, rounded cream benches, ribbed timber panelling and a plinth shaped like a breaking wave. Child-sized mannequins on skis engage the clients’ imagination. Around the room, the fittings respond when children touch them.
Project information
Architecture Company: STILL YOUNG
Design Team: Eric Ch, Damon Da, Melo Wang, Huiwen Wang, Vanadium Lin
Client Team: Joey Wang, Doris Ji, Helen Chu, Dylan Ding, Dylan Wang
Photography: Yuuuun Studio
Location: Beijing, China
Date: December 2025
