Luxury Home Appliance Brand BALMUDA Opens Its First Flagship Store+

BALMUDA is a creative and technological company founded in Tokyo in 2003. Its innovative products with novel ideas are what make BALMUDA stand out from the rest of the competition. In this flagship project, we aimed to embody the brand's personality, seek a new role for retail stores, and explore the relationship between the store, products, and customers. 

The design concept is “Museum + Lounge.” Under the museum concept, the first floor provides a unique experience for customers to see the products as if they are appreciating works of art at a museum. With impressive layers of solid oak, the central display counter acts as the grand stage for product exhibition. The counter can be divided into several modules as a flexible approach to retail display, while it is also intended to be used on a long-term basis through care and constant maintenance. Apart from the counter, there is also a distinctive yet simple oval-shaped fixture that can easily be reconfigured to accommodate various requirements and presentations. 

The second floor is a lounge-like space that promotes spontaneous interactions between customers and staff, where people can physically experience the products with professional support. A multi-purpose counter with built-in cooking equipment is not only for offering interactive services but also for hosting workshops and demonstrating products. 

The concrete texture exposed from the previous demolition, and antique bricks imported from Belgium for reuse, are adopted as key materials. We kept their original appearance as much as possible by not adding superfluous touches, to inherit the history from a foreign country or another era woven into the materials. The heavily scratched and weathered surfaces create a nostalgic ambiance while expressing resilience, in stark contrast to the stylish, smooth appearance of the products. We aimed to express the brand's ideology by creating a place where the products and space resonate although having a contrasting relationship. 

In a time when lifestyles are constantly changing, stores must be highly adaptable to grow with the brand. E-commerce became part of our lives while activities are restricted amid the pandemic and the introduction of the new normal. However, despite the circumstances, this space offers guests a unique opportunity to fully appreciate products using all five senses in a live and interactive setting, which is hard to find today. We hope this flagship store will provide a new and exciting place of discovery that could instantly draw visitors into the world of BALMUDA.