period furniture & suspended pharmacy cabinet mark beauty product showroom in prague

showroom byssine fuses contemporary design with period pieces

In response to the directives of Czech beauty brand Byssine, Tomáš Kotrč, Martin Petřík, and Nora Sopková have conceived a brick-and-mortar extension for the brand’s online success. Showroom Byssine in Prague draws on Italian interiors, blending period furniture with locally crafted pieces to create a unified canvas to showcase a global array of body care products. The space’s main room, accessible from Pernerova Street, serves as both an exhibition and sales area, reflecting the distinct individuality of each represented brand.

The floor plan is relatively small, however the spatially generous ground floor is divided into two main rooms with a built-in sanitary facility, while the second room caters to consultations, skincare, and administrative functions. Both are separated by a transparent sliding brass grille. A concrete column draped with textiles, opposite the entrance and supporting the new extension of the original two-story house, is utilized to divide the space and guide visitors diagonally towards the center of the room. Here, beneath hand-stitched paper chandeliers, a vintage marriage desk from a northern Bohemia city hall holds a suspended cabinet reminiscent the pharmacy tradition.

all images by Filip Šlapal

by Tomáš Kotrč, Martin Petřík, and Nora Sopková

The suspended cabinet’s front consists of recycled, varnished, and gilded MDF boards, while the shelves inside are made of brass and the inner part of the body is lined with a mirror. The design team’s play of materials continues with brass plates in the upper part, a stone slab dividing the plinth and upper sections, and a reddish-stained plinth. The lapidary basin, used for washing during sales, echoes the stone theme, creating a harmonious visual narrative, and a round mirror above is set against a cut and backlit hoop. When passing behind a concrete column to the next room, a set of geometrically linked shelves anchored on minimal spikes to the load-bearing wall are revealed.

A gray amoeba-shaped table in the back room becomes the focal point, set against the background of a long cabinet wall adorned with a painting by restorer and painter Václav Hendrych, stretching across the depth and height of the store. Solitary refurbished seating pieces, sourced internationally, are scattered throughout, creating an eclectic ambiance. The choice of a sand-grey cement screed for the floor provides a calm and unifying base for the diverse elements. Lighting, a crucial element in any showcase, is programmable. Suspended reflector strips encircling the entire store serve as the primary light source, while LED strips illuminate each display shelf, enhancing the visibility of showcased products.

Showroom Byssine is a brick-and-mortar extension for the brand’s online success

a suspended cabinet reminiscent of a pharmacy showcases the products

concrete column draped with textiles supports the structure’s extension and diagonally guides visitors

period furniture and locally crafted pieces create a unified canvas to showcase a global array of body care products

a collaboration between Tomáš Kotrč, Martin Petřík, and Nora Sopková

Showroom Byssine is a brick-and-mortar extension for the brand’s online success

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project info:

name: Showroom Byssine
designers: Tomáš Kotrč, Martin Petřík, Nora Sopková

client: Byssine

location: Prague, Czech Republic

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edited by: ravail khan | designboom