The Xinú Marsella boutique provides visitors with an immersive retail experience guided by the contrast between its immersion in lush gardens and the bustling surrounding city.

Key features

Esrawe Studio designed the flagship boutique for perfume and home scent brand Xinú Marsella, located in the heart of Mexico City’s Juarez neighbourhood. Previously a car mechanic workshop, the 236-sq-m brand space was created based on introducing a greater share of green to the neighbourhood. Organic-shaped stepping stones snake through the lush green gardens. A wood pavilion emerges, surrounded by foliage.

Occupying the centre of the space is a wooden column, mimicking the trunk of a tree. In a radial form, wood beams jut out from the centre point and connect to the panelled ceilings. The same form is mirrored on the floors also made of wood. Around the column, a circular display platform showcases the brand's scented products also showing whole ingredients to further reiterate the narrative and connection to nature. Floor-to-ceiling windows, which are angled to follow the shape of the building, reveal and connect to the surrounding garden. Wooden panes integrate product displays into the building’s architecture. The minimalistic approach to the showcase of merchandise reiterates the building’s – and the brand’s – focus on the surroundings. 

FRAME’s take

The green oasis is a welcome respite from the urban setting. Not only does the lush garden help Xinú Marsella to connect meaningfully with its brand narrative by immersing customers in a green-filled experience but creates a novel experience for visitors, both intentional and serendipitous. The meandering path through the garden is an open invitation to passersby to check out what’s going on. By prompting a sense of discovery, the store and its surroundings are designed to encourage foot traffic. The pavilion is subtly branded, using its display space to equally showcase ingredients alongside finished products that subtly invoke the essence of the brand. Inside the space, the real star is the surroundings. Esrawe Studio manages to blur the line between public and retail space, creating an engaging and immersive experience in nature in a major urban capital.