Project Description
Technology and Tomorrow of ICT ecosystem
In an age of online retail, is an offline store still viable?
Online retail has expanded and accelerated in the age of the Coronavirus pandemic, and is now a prerequisite retail model. Unlike the rapidly-changing digital contents of online retail, building a physical store inevitably face a challenge. Expanding from Telecommunication Company to Information Communications Technology (ICT) Company, SK Telecom opened their first flagship store in Seoul – T Factory – where offline and online experiences are seamlessly connected. Where ‘T’echnology and ‘T’omorrow are constantly invented and reinvented. To meet the future ‘foreseen but unknown’ changes of this environment, flexibility and adaptability are key.
ICT Multiplex – Not Just a Phone Shop
The project begins with a central point, from which radiates the organizing grid and expanding in concentric circuits. The intersection of circuit and grid generates modules to host various experiences, products, and services; the Circuit generates the pathways for each customer to navigate their own journey. At the intersection of technology and humanity, T Factory is not just a place to sell digital devices, but an open collaboration space between people and partners to generate even greater social values, thereby inspiring the whole ICT industry in Korea.
A muted materiality creates a gentle background against the vibrant digital devices on display, while the lighting layout reinforces the circuit organization, instinctively guiding people between spaces, without overwhelming the space or competing with the devices.
Innovation from Today
The building blocks of the store experience – the tables, seating, displays, etc – are distributed in harmony with the organizing grid and circuits. In the First Floor ‘Flex Stage’, furniture and display elements are flexible to move along the circuits, able to form and re-form over time to support changing needs and special events. The Second Floor ‘0 Stage’ (in Korean, the number 0 is pronounced as ‘young’) has a youthful, interactive feel, encouraging customers to freely move around the modular furniture. These modules are similar in material and profile, except for their varying depths, allowing both standing and sitting experience. A flexible display wall system with perforated wooden panel hangs display units of different sizes and shapes, so that the contents and location of the display are interchangeable. While the first and second floors highlight the connection with technology, the mezzanine and Media Zone are given back to people, accommodating social events.
The T Factory shares innovation and vision by transforming the entire ground floor storefront into a 24-hour unmanned store, with retail and experience programs flanking the central entryway on either side. While the concept of “unmanned” implies the absence of staff, it does not mean the absence of humanity. In fact, the success of an unmanned store depends on how effectively the user experience is planned with human-oriented values; essential to an “unmanned” concept is the centering of man! And so, at the intersection of technology and humankind, SK Telecom’s journey begins in T Factory.
Installations and video contents in the photos are the work of SK Telecom’s Brand Marketing Group.
