8C Design: Winner of World Design Awards 2025. This project, an office space based in Ningbo, showcases the designer’s creative effacement of typical workplace hallmarks, imbuing it instead with a character deeply reflective of the owner. A symmetrically balanced layout, a rhythmic choreography of movement, life-infused materials, and a warmly luminous ambiance, along with the client’s extensive collection, are harmoniously interwoven. These elements coalesce, transforming into currents of vibrant energy that flow freely throughout this living, breathing space.

Symmetrical and fluid movement streamlines the spatial structure, fostering a sense of inner order. The space is bisected along a central axis, with long, extensive corridors leading north and south. Passing through two floor-to-ceiling sliding doors in these corridors, one is immediately greeted by an open expanse.Music and the aroma of tea swirl, an invitation to refined moments of leisure.Taking advantage of a ceiling height exceeding 5 meters, the designer constructed a mezzanine, connected by geometric stairs.Sliding doors and glass curtain walls facilitate the zones’ transformations: now open and expansive, now enclosed and intimate, crafting a dynamic spatial rhythm that encourages a free flow of movement throughout.

A central challenge and defining highlight of this project is that over 90% of the items originate from the owner’s private collection. These range from Ming and Qing dynasty rosewood furniture to Western modern pieces, high-fidelity audio equipment alongside a curated vinyl collection, and ancient painted scrolls alongside various artifacts and wood carvings. The designer, through comprehensive and multifaceted consideration, sensitively discerned the relationships between these objects—their materials, forms, and heights—ensuring each achieved its optimal position. Simultaneously, the designer unearthed the inherent potential of each item, revealing its versatility: the dining table serves not only for meals but also as a surface for painting and practicing calligraphy. This flexible deployment of objects allows the space to remain in a state of perpetual incompleteness – it enables it to be regenerative. The result is a space versatile enough to be a salon for exploring cinema, vinyl, and art; a living space for entertaining friends with tea and wine; a gathering place for appreciating calligraphy and painting; and a sanctuary for both business and solitude.

Expansive floor-to-ceiling windows allow the designer to maximize natural light, which, combined with varying shades of wood, creates a bright and welcoming atmosphere. Teak, elm, jade green marble, and genuine leather intertwine, bestowing a sense of breath and life upon the space. It is not merely a physical space but a spiritual sanctuary. The designer deftly balances opposing forces, seeking harmony through contrast, achieving unity through diversity, and ultimately, through an immersive experience, bringing a sense of equanimity, comfort, and serenity to the individual.

Project Details:-
Firm
8C Design

Designer
8C Design

Project Name
Spiritual Collection Nourishes Vital Energy

Project Category
Corporate Interior (Built)

Team
Xiangui Chen, Wei Zhang, Bei Xu

Project Location
Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, China

Country
China

Photography ©Credit
©Ying Liu

At 8C Studio, we dedicate ourselves to the artful fusion of space and lifestyle. Rooted in a global perspective and fueled by professional expertise and a spirit of relentless inquiry, we derive inspiration from the latent needs of our clients. Our mission is to seamlessly blend the aspirational with the achievable, delivering nuanced solutions that balance aesthetic elegance with functional pragmatism. In an era dominated by speed and profit, we consciously take the road less traveled, investing time and patience to lead the way, foreseeing and shaping the living spaces of tomorrow.