One Fine Day Studio & Partners Creates a Pup Palace for Pet Owners in Guangzhou, China

Literally and figuratively, Bibu explores the far reaches of design. Located within the Gaode Mansion, a tony condominium complex in Guangzhou, China, the 6,800-square-foot pet shop–cum–veterinary clinic fulfills the growing need for pet care due to increased ownership among China’s young consumers. But there’s nothing earthbound about the three-level venue: It’s a visual mash-up of retrofuturism and space-age imagery with references to 2001: A Space Odyssey. In fact, it’s as if the project by One Fine Day Studio & Partners jumped off the silver screen.

In 3-D, it plays out with a ground floor dedicated to retail space, replete with custom cabinetry and shelving, a café dubbed Doppio, and a parklike play area for customers’ pooches. A stunning spiral stairway in the atrium leads to the mezzanine, where meeting rooms line the hallways. The second floor is given over to the animal hospital and consultation rooms. Throughout, portholes and saucer-shape dome lights abound. As do “arcs and circular forms, symbols of the universe matching people’s imagination of the future,” lead architect Jump Lee says. “We avoided visually oppressive sharp corners.” Color plays a role, too, with pops of verdant green on the first level, creamy eggshell on the mezzanine, and tranquil blue-gray above. All told, Bibu is eminently pragmatic yet dazzlingly—and, err, doggedly—otherwordly.