LOCAL CONTEXT · RETAIL DESIGN · COLLABORATION
From Ipoh’s railway heritage to an award-winning retail experience
A local story. A shared ambition. The people and decisions behind AEON Station 18.
At AEON Station 18 in Ipoh, Perak, a supermarket refurbishment became an opportunity to connect everyday shopping with the city’s railway heritage. Designed by DMZ International Design Group, the project received the 2026 IDPA Japan Pioneer Prize for Commercial Space.
Behind that recognition is a shared story: a client willing to explore a local narrative, contractors translating ideas into built details, and a passionate design team working through a demanding programme, budget constraints and the realities of a store that continued trading.
A local story shapes the shopping journey
Ipoh’s railway heritage gave the project a clear starting point. Track-inspired circulation, platform-style zones and railway references bring a familiar local character into a contemporary supermarket environment.
The concept connects storytelling with the practical demands of retail interior design. Circulation becomes part of the narrative, while recognisable zones give different areas their own identity. The ambition was to create a shopping experience that belongs to Ipoh and responds to AEON’s everyday operational needs.
For DMZ, this is the value of designing from local context: discovering what makes a place distinctive and giving it a useful role in contemporary life.
Collaboration brings the concept to life
Delivering that vision required close collaboration between AEON, our interior design team and the contractors. Design discussions continued on site, where drawings, visualisations, material samples and actual construction conditions could be considered together.
The photographs capture this process: reviewing colour selections with the client, discussing work in progress and comparing the developing interior with the intended design. These exchanges helped connect creative decisions with the practical knowledge of the people building and operating the space.
A successful retail refurbishment depends on that shared understanding. Each decision must work for the design, the construction programme and the business.
Refurbishing while business continues
AEON Station 18 presented a particular challenge: refurbishment works had to progress while the business remained operational.
Working within a live retail environment meant considering construction alongside customer movement, staff access and daily trading. The short timeframe added pressure to coordination and decision-making, while the budget required careful choices about where design investment would make the greatest difference.
For our team, passion was expressed through the work itself—returning to details, responding to site questions and finding practical ways to carry the railway concept through to completion. Balancing ambition with buildability and cost was central to the process.
An achievement shared by the whole team
The 2026 IDPA Japan recognition celebrates a project shaped by many contributions. We share this achievement with AEON, the contractors and every member of the DMZ team who helped bring the space to life.
As an interior design consultancy based in Kuala Lumpur, DMZ approaches retail projects across Malaysia with a belief that local identity and commercial purpose can strengthen one another. AEON Station 18 demonstrates how a story rooted in place can guide supermarket design—and how committed collaboration can carry that story through real-world constraints.
