Balinese hospitality brand Potato Head opens the Good Times General Store, its first dedicated retail space, designed in collaboration with its longstanding creative partner, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). Building on the pair’s shared exploration of circularity, the project marks the most developed expression yet of their commitment to using design as a vehicle for social and environmental good.
The Good Times General Store at Potato Head, Bali
Conceived as a model for ‘post-consumption retail’, the store challenges the conventional relationship between retailer, product and consumer. ‘The retail landscape is increasingly defined by experience rather than the possession of physical objects. Today, value lies less in what we own and more in what we feel and participate in,’ says David Gianotten, managing partner at OMA.
The new structure sits between the Desa Potato Head Bali hotel, which marked the beginning of the creative partnership more than a decade ago, and its beach club, an early expression of Potato Head’s distinctive approach to hospitality and design (which also extends to nightclub Klymax Discotheque). The store offers a new point of entry, both literally and figuratively, for visitors who may be less familiar with the brand’s established hospitality and entertainment offerings.
Gianotten describes the building’s material language as ‘contemporary-traditional’, integrating local building traditions into contemporary design. Roofing thatch is reinterpreted as an exterior finish, and rammed-earth walls feature smooth and bush-hammered finishes that reveal the earth’s raw character and the craftsmanship involved.
The rectangular structure is organised into five linear bays, bringing together products and opportunities to engage with the processes behind them. The first three bays present objects by independent makers from Indonesia and beyond, Potato Head’s in-house apparel and ‘Wasted’, a collection developed with British designer Max Lamb that transforms discarded materials into furniture and homeware. The remaining two focus on making: a natural-dye studio that uses food and plant waste, and a workshop for experimenting with recycled plastic collected by waste-pickers across Bali and Java.
The workshops sit at the heart of the store’s retail concept, with lightweight, movable elements allowing the interior to be reconfigured for different uses. ‘We see the space as something that will continue to develop through the people who use it,’ says Dan Mitchell, creative director of Potato Head. ‘The flexibility allows us to change the scale and use of different areas, to bring together the different expressions of the brand: music, art, design, food and wellbeing.’
‘The idea is to encourage people to think more consciously about consumption without diminishing the pleasure,’ says Gianotten. ‘The principle of “Good Times, Do Good” has guided our collaboration from the beginning.’ Over the years, their work has evolved into an ecosystem in which hospitality, design and environmental responsibility inform one another.
Next in Potato Head’s creative universe is a sanggar in Bali, a space for learning and practising the arts, with a focus on the performing arts. ‘It’s going to be a bamboo dome (designed by Indonesian architect Nano Uhero),’ says Ronald Akili, the driving force behind Potato Head. ‘The team will work with artists from across Indonesia and Balinese performers to develop programmes and residencies.’ A design centre is also in the works, with a materials library, exhibition spaces and studios for designers to undertake residencies and develop new work. Both projects are scheduled to open in 2027.
