How do you make a mere 115 square feet feel luxurious? For the newly opened Intersybarite gourmet food store in Mexico City, Arquitectura Sistémica took a cue from wine, the shop’s main product, and created the clean yet intimate atmosphere of a modern wine cellar. The dark countertops feel sleek, but the floor-to-ceiling glass wall and the light-colored wood from recycled palettes keep the space feeling open (and larger than it really is), a main consideration for when tastings and events crowd the store.
We love the way the wooden slats give the space a “raw” appeal, as if the wine bottles have only just arrived to the shop from their crates (never mind that wine is really shipped in cardboard boxes). Plus, the way the smallest wooden pieces are arranged like a peg board not only encourages an airy feel, but it lets buyers see the actual bottle and the entire label. No more sliding bottles in and out of their cubby holes to take a gander at the graphic design, though of course you’ll still have to pull them out to see important information like the year or the distributor or umm…the kind of wine it is. Okay, it’s not a perfect solution, but it’s definitely a lovely step in the right direction.
Photographs by Rafael Gamo
