balbek bureau evokes extraterrestrial landscapes at milla nova's bridal store in warsaw

Milla Nova boutique takes cues from ‘2001: A space odyssey’

Milla Nova, a Ukrainian wedding and evening gowns brand, has opened its first international bridal boutique in Warsaw, Poland. Designed by balbek bureau, the three-floor retail interior moves away from the standard aesthetics of bridal salons, seeking instead the depths of our cosmos by evoking the stellar minimalism of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. ‘We wanted to play on the contrast between the bride’s delicate image and the brutal extraterrestrial landscapes,’ share the architects.

Located on Jerusalem Avenue inside Lipinski Passage, a historic building from 1899, the boutique required appropriate solutions for lighting and privacy, given how several windows overlook the passage. Moreover, the active phase of the project coincided with Polish farmers blocking the Ukrainian border, further complicating the already difficult logistics: most of the custom elements were made in Ukraine and had to be delivered to the location by truck. Despite these challenges, balbek bureau reached its final design which oozes a kind of surreal elegance. 

all images © ONI studio

balbek bureau recreates cosmic settings across three floors

The Milla Nova showroom occupies three floors of the passage. The building’s basement houses technical rooms, a tailor shop, and a showroom warehouse. On the ground floor, to the right of the showroom’s main entrance from inside the passage, customers are greeted by a reception with a compact waiting area. The reception desk is made of stainless steel, a rectangular shape with a curved circle evoking the moon. This object looks deceptively simple, but it is detailed work, the balbek bureau team shares. The steel is bent on factory machines and then joined to the frame. To the right of the counter, a large custom lightbox is mounted on the wall, broadcasting the brand’s promotional videos created to match the salon’s interior.

‘The first floor […] resembles the desert surface of distant planets. The local landscape is stark – you can see rock fragments, large stone panels, and massive podiums all around. The shapes and shine of the screens refer to Kubrick’s monoliths. We present wedding dresses in the interior of the second floor, inspired by the interior spaces of intergalactic ships – unearthly and, at the same time, humanized and cozy. The colors and textures are smoother and more delicate, based on nuances,’ explains the studio.

evoking the brutal aesthetic of extraterrestrial landscapes

rocky textures meet smooth edges inside the warsaw store

To the left of the entrance is the showroom’s main sales area with windows to the street: evening gowns are displayed on rails and podiums. The floor is covered with micro cement and resembles the worn and scratched surface of the planet. To make the space less chaotic, the architects added a metal line to the floor that visually connects the rails. The podiums, meanwhile, are made of epoxy resin. The sales area features a collection of stone blocks, some made of gypsum and others of painted foam coated with micro cement. According to balbek bureau, these blocks are designed not only to look realistic but also to mimic the texture and weight of real stone.

A stone panel imitating marble was crafted from plywood on a frame, then covered with micro cement and plaster in multiple layers to create a rough, authentic texture with uneven edges. The seams on the finished product are invisible, and the stone pattern perfectly matches the original visualizations. To the right of the reception are three fitting rooms with a waiting area decorated with a lightbox featuring adjustable color temperature lighting.

Milla Nova boutique is inspired by the stellar minimalism of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey

Climbing the stairs to the second floor of the Milla Nova boutique, customers find themselves in a lounge for showcasing wedding dresses. The centerpiece of this space is a large, inviting sofa. Behind it, a panel made of plasterboard is covered with hand-carved wooden panels. Meanwhile, Driade Roly Poly chairs and natural wood stumps complement the seating area. Lighting is provided by a Moooi chandelier from the Flock of Light series—one of the few non-custom elements in the showroom. A curved wall in this area conceals a small kitchen where staff can prepare drinks for guests. The floor features four fitting rooms for future brides. One of these is set within an oval, semi-enclosed space, with its shape echoed by a backlit mirror. This area is designed to focus on the bride, with the interior as a neutral backdrop of smooth lines and tactile materials.

balbek bureau completed the design inside a historical building

Next to the oval area is a minimalist fitting room with a window, a favorite among clients for its excellent natural light. The lamp was custom-made; contractors baked and tinted clay to achieve the desired shade. The podiums in the fitting rooms are made of plaster covered with microcement and hand-painted, while the small coffee table is also plaster-coated with microcement and features a metal top. To the left of the oval area is the largest fitting room, distinguished by a terracotta-colored wall. Restoring the correct texture and tone of the decorative plaster took the contractors considerable time and effort.

Though the design of of the Milla Nova boutique appears simple and minimalist, without complex textures, this simplicity made the execution challenging. Finding the right textures and shades required significant effort. ‘To bring our ideas to life, we relied heavily on custom elements—90% of the showroom’s decor was created by the Ukrainian contractor C.I.Form according to the bureau’s designs,’ concludes balbek bureau. 

a stone panel imitating marble was crafted from plywood on a frame

a circle evoking the moon

delicate tones contrast the rough texture of stones

changing room at the Milla Nova showroom

custom-made lamp using baked and tinted clay to achieve the desired shade

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project info:

name: Milla Nova boutique | @millanova

architect: balbek bureau

location: Warsaw, Poland

project team: Alyona Tryhub, Andrew Taran, Liubov Myronchuk, Volodymyr Ponomarenko
creative supervision: Slava Balbek
project manager: Anna Viktorova
project supervision: Borys Dorogov
procurement manager: Daryna Ihnatieva
technical support: Valerii Stefanov, Anastasiia Vinidiktova, Anna Malenko, Yurii Riabets, Hanna Sukhanova

contractor: C.I.Form

photographer: ONI studio
area: 417 sq.m
completion year: 2024