Hongmeng Car Showroom / CLOU Architects

Architects: CLOU Architects
Area: 600 m²
Year: 2022
Photography: Arch-Exist
Client: Chengdu Himore Used Car Trading Market Management Co., Ltd.
Design Team: Jan Clostermann, Lin Li, Dongfang Xie, Xiaoyang Ye, Julien Douillet, Linyu Li, Qiao Ding, Yunzi Wang, Haiwei Xie, Yujie Jin
Structure, MEP, Construction Drawings: Sichuan Architimes Design Co. Ltd.
Facade Consultant: B+C Genesis Architects Chengdu Co., Ltd.
City: Chengdu
Country: China

Hongmeng Car Showroom, designed by CLOU Architects in Chengdu, China, introduces a compact and strategic architectural intervention that repositions a long-established car trading venue into a high-end retail destination. Completed in 2022, the project features two red-clad pavilions with serrated glass facades, forming visual markers at a major intersection in Shuangliu District. Acting as a prototype for a planned exhibition mall, the design reflects automotive precision while enhancing display efficiency and reinforcing a renewed brand identity for Southwest China’s leading used car market.

Most showrooms are about containment and spectacle. We wanted to invert that logic. Our goal was to create a space that communicates openness rather than exclusivity. The façade works like a veil, not a wall. It hints at transparency and permeability, a showroom that connects to the city rather than isolates from it.
Interview with Sebastian Loaiza of CLOU architects

The Hongmeng Car Showroom, a CLOU Architects-designed project, transforms a longstanding used car trading space in Chengdu into a new architectural model for luxury vehicle retail. Located at a prominent intersection in the city’s Shuangliu District, the project comprises two compact pavilions that mark the beginning of a larger redevelopment strategy. Completed in 2022, the intervention not only updates the spatial logic of the original site but also introduces a visual identity aligned with Hongmeng’s repositioning in the luxury automotive sector.

Although the total built area covers only 600 square meters, the two buildings hold a significant presence within the market’s urban context. Each structure is defined by a bright red roof and side cladding, paired with full-height glazed facades. These facades alternate between transparent and reflective glass, creating a serrated effect that responds to both aesthetic clarity and visual rhythm. The angular geometry continues into the parking area, where a diagonal layout increases efficiency and provides optimal visibility for the displayed vehicles.

According to the architects, “the architecture of the vehicle showroom itself should be designed with a consistent aesthetic based on rational appreciation.” This principle is reflected in both material choices and spatial planning. Metal and glass dominate the palette, emphasizing precision and surface refinement, qualities consistent with the showroom’s automotive context.

In the northern pavilion, steel beams are positioned above the roof plane to maintain an open floor layout and express the structural framework externally. Several skylights—angled and asymmetrical—pierce the flat roof, drawing in natural light and disrupting the uniform volume of the structure. Inside, a red spiral staircase anchors the reception area. Positioned next to a prototype vehicle and fully enclosed by transparent glass, this spatial arrangement serves as a key visual focus from both interior and exterior perspectives.

The southern showroom, approximately half the size of the northern one, echoes the same architectural language. Its zigzag roofline aligns with the jagged facade expression, while clerestory windows introduce soft, even daylight into the interior. Both buildings share the same red color scheme, reinforcing their identity at the intersection and enhancing the site’s visibility within the city.

The project was developed by a multidisciplinary team from CLOU Architects, including Jan Clostermann, Lin Li, Dongfang Xie, Xiaoyang Ye, Julien Douillet, Linyu Li, Qiao Ding, Yunzi Wang, Haiwei Xie, and Yujie Jin. Technical design, structural systems, MEP coordination, and construction documentation were carried out by Sichuan Architimes Design Co. Ltd., while facade consultancy was provided by B+C Genesis Architects Chengdu Co. Ltd.

As the first phase in a broader plan that includes a future car exhibition mall, the Hongmeng Car Showroom establishes a clear design direction and signals a strategic shift in how automotive retail environments are conceived in Southwest China. The project succeeds not only in redefining spatial efficiency but also in expressing a new identity through architecture.