CUBITTS MARYLEBONE
EYEWEAR STORE INTERIOR, MARYLEBONE LONDON
The building at 28 New Cavendish Street is part of a 1903 development, originally home to Edward VII’s butcher, Goslin and Co. Cubitts Marylebone is organised along clean lines, with an emphasis on modern utilitarian display, tempered with a knowing reverence to the site’s bloody history, and the sensuous glamour of this opulent district. 

A red-bathed interior is rooted in original white-veined marble tiles, uncovered and restored. Their crimson hue spills out into the walls, a panelled ceiling, and a piano lacquered central element. A new internal arch mirrors the historic façade, bringing the elegance of New Cavendish Street into the store. 

Spectacle shelving in marble and polished chrome references Goslin’s utilitarian display units. A paravent screen divides the shopfront from the testing room. Punctuated by gloss and mirror reflections and illuminated by spherical glass pendants, the design is a sumptuous interpretation of the building’s history.

Photography by Felix Speller


CUBITTS WEST VILLAGE
EYEWEAR STORE INTERIOR, WEST VILLAGE NEW YORK
Cubitts West Village brings the spectacle of New York’s theatrical quarter to spectacles. Set in the building once inhabited by seminal playwright Lorraine Hansberry, it’s a love letter to theatrical glamour, holding a mirror to the dualities of ‘on stage’ and ‘backstage’, public and private lives.

The front of the store is designed as a theatre of the everyday, for the theatrical masks we all wear. Constructed with a set-like glamour, with felt-lined walls, recessed wooden shelving, and black parquet wooden floorboards fit for the stage.

Custom designed furnishings have an imaginative prop-like quality, arranged to emphasise the changeable nature of the store. The space is lit by a 1980s vintage pendant by Mario Botta and a 1960s Kaiser Leuchten table lamp by Klaus Hempel, chosen for their allusions to theatre flashlights, and photographic reflector screens.

Around the curved screen wall, the ‘backstage’ area. A contrast in dark bitter-chocolate brown. A vanity mirror lines the wall, set for Bespoke consultations. Deeper still into the store’s recesses, behind a leather curtain, two doors present themselves. One leads to a repair station, the other to the bathroom, a shrine to Dionysus, Greek god of art and theatre.

Photography by Alice Gao


NIGHTINGALE
RESTAURANT INTERIOR, MAYFAIR LONDON
Located in a sheltered courtyard in Mayfair, London, guests emerge into a space that is elegant but restrained, with classic European aesthetic influences reimagined in contemporary materials. The design references continental Kaffeehaus culture, as well as museum and theatre interiors.  

An angled ceiling opens up to the exterior, creating a stage-like room with space to breathe. Fluted walls in crisp white and layers of curtains capture the abundance of daylight and create an ever-changing play of light and shadow.

Accentuated by a feature installation of five dancing chandeliers, Nightingale is spun in playful motion. ‘Tanzende’, a German Lithograph by Dietrich Burger from 1983 adorns the steel and marble backbar.

Photography by Ludovic Balay


CUBITTS ISLINGTON
EYEWEAR STORE INTERIOR, ISLINGTON LONDON
A gallery befitting spectacles, the design of Cubitts Islington is a response to the painterly perspective of the building at 56 Cross Street and the area’s artistic character, with nods to surrealism and Italian modernism dotted throughout. 

A vast skylight spills natural light, evoking the artist’s studio or modern gallery. Spectacles line a single Nile glass shelf stretching the length of the space, each given its due as object worthy of reflection. In a space characterised by its perspectival depth and tapering walls, the design looks to the characteristic architectural ambiguity of European surrealism. In particular, the paintings of Kay Sage, with their extreme vanishing points, provide a surprising geometry and colour palette of buttery yellow and aquatic greens. 

Photographic works by Lee Miller cast the store through her surrealist lens, underlining a fascination with depth, light, and shadows. A group of FontanaArte prism-like pieces enhance the reverence for glass. 

Photography by Ludovic Balay


CUBITTS SOHO
EYEWEAR STORE INTERIOR, SOHO NEW YORK
‘The future projects light, the past only clouds’ – Eileen Gray

The store at Mercer Street draws focus to the sculptural object at its centre; a reflective curve, inspired by early 20th century industrial design. 

American streamline design signified a time in motion and ideas of progress through technology. The displays’ S shape echoes the smooth flowing silhouettes of spectacles as much as those of architecture and machines.

Creating the context of a treasure box, the Cubitts collection is displayed in a space with theatrical aesthetic influences. Areas of glamorous darkness are peppered with light. Shimmering reflections, reminiscent of city lights, emphasize the store’s meticulous detailing and represent the care and attention put into the products it encloses.

Photography by William Jess Laird



SATELLITE PENDANT
PRODUCT DESIGN
A dance of pleats, the Satellite Pendant’s fabric shades orbit around a suspended stainless steel axis. Conical spotlights emphasize the objects detailing and illuminate the screens in layers of warm diffusion.

Originally conceived during the Designer’s travels through Japan, the chandelier references traditional fan pleating techniques, as well as floral wood block prints. Framed by an adjustable system of steel elements, the design balances engineering and artistic elements.

Developed with Austrian heritage lighting manufacturer Kalmar, the Satellite Pendant is available to order in a variety of bespoke compositions.


OBLO WALL LIGHT
PRODUCT DESIGN
A reflective steel curve projects light onto a circle of cloth. The Oblo Wall Light’s glowing form is adjustable to adapt the space’s ambience through versatile patterns of illumination.

Developed with Austrian heritage lighting manufacturer Kalmar, the Oblo wall light is available to order through Tutto Bene.

©TUTTO BENE LONDON – MILANO