Project type: Interior
Status: Built
Area: 50 m² 

Year: 2014
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
Team: Laura Malcaitė,  Dmitrij Kudin,

Karolina Jašinskaitė

Photographs: Leonas Garbačauskas

By the end of 2014 yet another Creme de la crème, a haute parfumerie boutique in Didzioji Street, Vilnius Old Town, opened its doors to the public. This is the sixth outlet of this brand, and the fourth designed by Inblum architects. The earlier Creme de la creme boutiques settled within big shopping centres, in rather generic spaces and environments, so the unique location of this outlet and the narrow L-shaped space demanded more contextual solutions.
The boutique had to edge its way into the urban environment of Didzioji Street, giving due regard to the scale of the small shops and cafes, the closed character of internal spaces, and, finally, to the tracery of the building erected in the 60’s and regularly reconstructed, where Creme de la crème had settled.
 
The entrance to the outlet has been reformatted, the entrance niche has been made deeper and its walls covered with clinker tiles. The interior space that opens to view beyond the window is screened with the brass mesh that gives a very delicate touch to the whole design. The mirrors on its sides let in city reflections, bringing a sudden gleam to the brass on the way. Giving due respect to the 60’s, the outlet has Terrazzo floors.
Similar to the earlier interiors of Creme de la creme outlets, Inblum architects experiment on materials, find unusual combinations, use high quality materials, give special attention to detail and precise execution, to construction logic that may give room to unexpected details, such as mirror surfaces that distort space or atectonic console tables.
 
The interior space is elongated, high, narrow, forming a bend at the end. On entering, it is yet unclear  how far it may stretch. After the bend, the space ends in a makeup area with a theatrical mirror wall, an illusion of infinity. The intention was to emphasize the horizontal nature of the space and to avoid the conflict of different identities of brand names. So the peripheral shelving modules are divided in three parts: the lower part (veneered fronts) is intended for storage, the central part - for display, and the upper part – for brand name logos. In the “windows” between the shelves with the console-type hanging mirrors one can see personalized displays of brands. Aiming at making the moment of making a purchase less formal, the cash desk here resembles a worktable .
 
Slowly moving within the rather small L-shaped space, in each point we observe a different combination of materials, rhythm and exhibits. The space is saturated with the delicate openwork adding to the feel of comfort and spontaneity, inherent not only in the Old Town, but being universally important for those willing to personalize the process of buying and selling.