Hanoia Noi Bai presents a new exploration of typology for the latest retail space of luxury brand Hanoia. After having revamped an old Northern Vietnamese shop-house, a colonial heritage boutique and a tube house in the dense center of Ho Chi Minh CIty, G8A now completes the retail space of Noi Bai International Airport.

In 2015, the inauguration of the new terminal welcomed international travelers to and from Hanoi, the spaces lining the departure hall were offered to retail and hospitality and soon was to blossom a certain vitrine typology that had been awkwardly derived from Vietnamese market-booth typology. Products are displayed in abundance of numbers and types, the more choice you have the better. Shops present an overload of products, in a shell of poor-generic display.

Designing a retail space in this context led G8A to question the relevance of abundant displays, and to explore the potential of discovery and the imaginary. This is reflected in the proposition of a space guided by decouverte and curiosity, illustrated by the luxury designs Hanoia is known for.

The limit between public circulation and commercial zones in the airport is a blur. G8A intervenes by using a silk-cord curtain filter, enhancing the depth creating a porous foreground, the mousharabet brick wall becoming the scenic background.  Following the materiality explored in the previously established retail spaces, G8A uses bricks, dark stone tiling, silk cording, and natural brut elements placed in contrast with details of polished brass and bright lacquer, to create an intimate and luxurious setting, a perfect balance between tradition and modernity.

The design of the Hanoia Noi Bai store also resulted in the development of a set of brand design guidelines that will be applicable in each new retail location. With this latest Hanoia store offered in such a way as to be attentive to visitors’ needs, counterbalancing the market types typically on offer with an authentic experience of high-end local products.