Eyewear chain Cubitts has once again expanded its already elaborate brick-and-mortar shop network in London with an additional outpost in Belgravia. Occupying an early 19th-century red brick building in Georgian style, the retail space encompasses a ground floor and basement, and features an interior design by local practice and longtime collaborator Child Studio. The chosen aesthetic celebrates the building’s architectural legacy yet also pairs it with contemporary interventions, and in a very balanced manner, resulting in a subtle visual layering that incites taking in all the details. So, most of the interior detailing had been lost over the years of previous renovations and a lot of effort has gone into restoring these original features. Refined mouldings, architraves and cornices have been sourced, while the doorways have been opened up to form the dramatic three-metre tall doorways. The original wooden floorboards have been uncovered and repaired, and an antique cast iron fireplace was painted in an ivory colour and installed in the front room.
The walls throughout the store have been decorated in a dusty yellow tone characteristic of the period’s interiors. A number of modern bespoke pieces not only add an interesting visual layering to the settings, but also tie in with Cubitts‘ modernist approach to eyewear design. Interestingly, the design practice took cues from iconic designer Eileen Gray who lived in this part of the British capital in the early years of her career, and many of the bespoke pieces pay homage to her design legacy. A sleek elegant table with a tubular steel base, burl wood patterned top and a black gloss lacquered storage unit vies for attention with striking display shelving unit that’s designed to look like a freestanding room divider. Mind you, the backroom features an equivalent made from lacquered dark timber. Additionally, the store has been accessorised with carefully sourced objects, such as Gray’s Jumo table lamp, Murano wall lights and cast plaster seashell sconces. The new Cubitts store carries the brand’s full range of men’s and women’s eyewear and sunglasses.
Cubitts
43 Elizabeth Street (Belgravia)
London SW1W 9PP
Telephone: +44 20 39407376
Mon-Sat 10am-6pm
Sun 11am-5pm
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.
