The Land of the Rising Sun has always had a soft spot for Officine Universelle Buly‘s coquettishly French offerings, and the large number of standalone boutiques and shop-in-shops bears witness to that. Seeing room for further growth in this highly discerning market, the LVMH-owned brand not only opens a new boutique in the post city of Kobe, but also shifts into eclectic gear, pairing the retail space with a matching café along the way. Occupying two adjacent ground floor units at Kobe BAL Annex, an upscale shopping complex in the bustling downtown area of Motomachi, the two establishments are unified by a modern façade dipped in discreetly shimmering imperial green patinas and adorned with a contrasting marbled frieze. The interior design, created by co-founder Ramdane Touhami and the brand’s longtime, affiliated design practice Art Recherche Industrie, fully accommodates Japan‘s penchant for eclectic aesthetics, playfully pairing antique marble, precious woods and period lighting.
The shop design is unapologetically lavish and infused with references of a bygone era, flaunting drooping and broken lines captured by lacquered wood, all crafted by the brand’s cabinet maker in provincial Burgundy, while also incorporating an abundance of speckled slabs of marble. Additionally, the paintings, shellac and refined decorative paint streaks have been created by an ornamental painter who was sent to Japan. As said, the boutique comes with a café next door that’s aptly baptised Le Café de l’Officine Universelle Buly, and as it happens, it’s also the fragrance and grooming brand’s very first hospitality concept worldwide. Here, the backdrop is all green, just like the façade, and paired with flooring of travertine tiles with black cabochons that’s reminiscent of French stately homes. The space is anchored by a monumental marble counter, laden with freshly baked pastries and cakes, and paired with floor-to-ceiling moulded timber cabinets.
Officine Universelle Buly
Kobe BAL Annex, 3-5-1 Sannomiya-cho (Motomachi)
Kobe 650-0021
Telephone: +81 78 3357237
Daily 11am-8pm
Le Café de l’Officine Universelle Buly
Kobe BAL Annex, 3-5-1 Sannomiya-cho (Motomachi)
Kobe 650-0021
Telephone: +81 78 3357238
Daily 11am-8pm (last order: 7pm)
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
