Founded in 2014 by three Brazilian icons from the music and entertainment industries, Bemglô started as an online platform for an elaborate multi-brand collection of eco-friendly and sustainably produced homegrown merchandise, ranging from fashion and beauty products, to home decoration, handicrafts and coffee sourced from small producers. But as today’s savvy consumers require compelling, if not palpable, stories and multi-sensory encouragement from time to time, Bemglô ventured offline to set up shop. The brand wisely steered clear from São Paulo‘s trophy-filled, air-conditioned shopping malls, and instead chose to pick a humble yet striking location on Rua Oscar Freire, a bustling shopping artery in the leafy downtown neighbourhood of Jardim Paulista. The venue’s exceptional dimensions proved to be a challenge for local architecture practice Vão.
Or maybe not. The front section, comprising of a narrow 25-metre corridor, leads to a small hall at the end. Fibreglass roof tiles, placed over a pre-existing transparent roof, cover the entire corridor allowing in filtered light. Mind you, the entrance is clad in the same roof tiles. The design of the inner volume, associated with the ceiling, encloses with the same material a mezzanine, which the neighbouring store had already taken over with its storage. Artificial lights were built-in on it, with T5 lamps on its interior for a general lighting and a rail of spotlights to highlight specific sections. Another important point for natural light entrance was made through the partial demolition of the slab at the back of the hall where an inviting coffee parlour is situated. The Bemglô store presents a curated selection of its merchandise.
Bemglô
Rua Oscar Freire 1145 (Jardim Paulista)
68746-010 São Paulo
Telephone: +55 11 945094181
Daily 10-8
Publishers Note
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