The 60-square-meter space features a unique blend of Parisian references and industrial elements.
They used this material to create a sense of history in the space. The floor, made of burr wood veneer, is inspired by the city’s traditional timber street setts. The city’s pavés de bois, timber street setts laid between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, return as the floor, remade in burr wood veneer at 15 x 15 centimetres, the same module that underpinned Milan, transforming an infrastructural surface into a precious element.
The walls are clad in fused mirrored glass with metal mesh, creating a sense of tension between luxury and imperfection. This contrast is a key element of the store’s design. The use of fused mirrored glass with metal mesh suspended inside it adds a layer of complexity, as every reflection comes back warped and irregular, creating a dynamic relationship between product, architecture, and the people in the space.
The store’s design is characterized by contrast, with brushed steel, perforated metal, and textured glass juxtaposed with stone, leather, and hand-worked surfaces. A central table features Pierre de Paris stone, while tubular steel armchairs and a mint-green frame sofa add to the space’s eclectic feel. The combination of these materials, including split-faced and hammered Pierre de Paris, perforated steel shelves, and industrially blown glass tables, creates a tension between raw and refined, industrial and sartorial, that defines the project.
Fabio Santambrogio’s design concept treats the lighting as an architectural element, reinforcing the idea of a sophisticated workshop. The lighting design includes Nemo’s AS3C by Franco Albini. The use of exposed raw-steel connectors in the Cells Surface system adds to the architectural feel of the lighting, creating a central chandelier that reinforces the sophisticated workshop concept.
Officine Creative’s new flagship at 20 Rue des Canettes in Saint-Germain-des-Prés is Fabio Santambrogio’s second interior for the Italian leather and footwear brand, following the Milan flagship in Brera. With two Officine Creative stores under his belt, his trajectory is clear: a unique and evolving design aesthetic that sets him apart in the industry, adapting to each city rather than repeating itself, and proving that his concept has somewhere else to go.
