OMA turns potato head’s bali store into creative workshop for recycled materials and traditional craft

OMA AND POTATO HEAD REIMAGINE RETAIL IN BALI

In Bali, Potato Head and OMA have opened the Good Times General Store, a retail space where buying something is only part of the experience. Located within Desa Potato Head in Seminyak, Indonesia, the hospitality brand’s first permanent store doubles as a craft center, bringing together Indonesian-made objects, fashion, furniture, and hands-on workshops. Rather than separating production from consumption, the project invites visitors to discover how things are made, where their materials come from, and what happens to them after their first life.

The architecture follows the same philosophy. Developed by OMA in collaboration with Ade Herkarisma, Potato Head’s Group Head of Architecture and Development, the building draws on Balinese construction traditions through an alang-alang thatch facade, rammed-earth walls made from local clay, reclaimed wood, and terrazzo floors incorporating recycled bamboo offcuts. Fragmented earthen blocks organize the interior while blurring the boundaries between its different functions. The result is a tactile environment where the materials do much of the talking, without needing to hide behind elaborate finishes.

OMA and Potato Head explore circular design through architecture | images courtesy of OMA

FIVE BAYS BRING INDONESIAN CRAFT AND RECYCLED DESIGN TOGETHER

Inside, five interconnected bays trace different stages in the lifecycle of objects. Designed by OMA, the spatial layout brings together retail, craftsmanship, and material experimentation within a single environment. The first introduces artisan souvenirs, books, records, and lifestyle pieces by independent makers, while the second showcases Potato Head’s clothing and travel collection inspired by Bali. The third is dedicated to the Wasted collection by Max Lamb, which transforms discarded plastics and other waste materials into functional furniture and homeware. Together, these spaces present different approaches to design, from traditional Indonesian craftsmanship to contemporary experiments in material reuse.

The remaining two bays shift the focus from finished products to the processes behind them. A working natural dye studio extracts pigments from plants and food waste collected across Desa Potato Head, inviting visitors to experiment with dyeing, painting, and pattern-making. Next door, a wall of shredded HDPE plastic, recovered through collectors and upcyclers in Bali and Java, anchors a workshop space dedicated to plastic molding and material experimentation. The program will continue to evolve, with additional ateliers for weaving, upcycling, and sewing planned for 2027.

OMA and Potato Head explore circular design through architecture

OMA CONNECTS CIRCULAR ARCHITECTURE WITH HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS

Beyond its retail program, the Good Times General Store is connected to Potato Head’s existing sustainability infrastructure, including the Waste Lab, where discarded materials are investigated and repurposed, and the Follow the Waste Tour, which traces how resources move through the resort. The relationship extends to the architecture itself, conceived as an example of how locally sourced and reclaimed materials can shape contemporary spaces. ‘Retail can be more than a transaction,’ says Potato Head founder Ronald Akili, emphasizing the importance of understanding who makes an object, what goes into it, and what its next life might look like.

For OMA, the project continues a long-standing collaboration with Potato Head that has already produced several spaces across Desa, including the hotel and Klymax Discotheque. This time, however, the emphasis moves from hospitality and entertainment to the everyday relationship between people and the things they consume. By bringing craft, recycling, and public participation into a single architectural setting, the Good Times General Store proposes a different kind of shopping experience, one in which visitors might leave with a handmade object, a new skill, or simply a better understanding of waste. The shopping bag, for once, is not necessarily the main takeaway.