When wood becomes the trait d’union between luxury and refinement
Less builders’ merchant, more Tiffany
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A former early-twentieth-century Soviet biscuit factory on Leningradsky Prospekt, one of Moscow’s most important streets. For the Kerama Marazzi flagship, 23bassi overturns the typical grammar of ceramics shops and applies a new formula: less builders’ merchant, more Tiffany. Black becomes the perfect backdrop to bring out the colours of the ceramics; marble and inlays evoke an elite idea of retail, while wood acts as the trait d’union between luxury and warmth. The lighting, developed with Flos, integrates the pre-existing metal structure with diffused indirect light and specific product spotlights.
A shop worthy of its container and its content. When Kerama Marazzi asked us what we thought about using a space of such high historical value for one of their shops, we were thrilled. The location was inside a former early-twentieth-century Soviet biscuit factory on one of Moscow’s most important streets, Leningradsky Prospekt, near Belorusskaya station.
The building, a full-height annexe to a much larger business centre that also houses Kerama Marazzi’s Moscow headquarters — designed by us, which you can find here — needed extensive restoration work, including structurally.
Less builders’ merchant, more Tiffany. A new way of understanding sector retail. Ceramics shops are often monotonous and all alike. Here we tried to think of it differently, raising the brand’s target and aligning it with the quality of the product on display.
The materials. Black, perfect for holding the many colours of the ceramics; marble and inlays, linked to an elite idea of shop; and ceilings full of indirect light, all tied together by wood, which immediately identifies the shop as luxury retail while making the environment comfortable.
The lights. The lighting was studied in detail together with Flos. The same ceiling solutions were designed to integrate the existing building’s metal structure and to insert, besides an indirect-light system that increases visual comfort, specific spotlights designed to enhance the product.
Bespoke furnishings. All the display furnishings and sales islands were conceived and designed bespoke, combining different materials according to the function and ergonomics of the project.
