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Elorea Perfumery & Café

Studio Paul Chan

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A sculptural perfume display at Elorea blends hand-chiseled blackened wood with CNC-milled aluminum, embodying a tactile tension between craft and precision. - Ye Rin Mok
A wide view of the Elorea flagship perfumery reveals sculptural figure-eight display tables beneath a historic dome, where fragrance, architecture, and ritual converge. - Ye Rin Mok
Detail of the interlocking display forms at Elorea, where hand-carved wood, machined aluminum, and dark glass come together beneath arched windows to create a moody, immersive experience. - Ye Rin Mok
A sculptural perfume display at Elorea blends hand-chiseled blackened wood with CNC-milled aluminum, embodying a tactile tension between craft and precision. - Ye Rin Mok

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Single-Brand Store
7.56
7.61
8.00
7.39
7.64
Peter Meinders
Peter Meinders Lecturer at Saxion University of Applied Sciences
Stunning use of materials. Very tec...
7.5
8
8.5
7
7.75
Jessica Dimcevski
Jessica Dimcevski Founder and Creative Director at Blurr Bureau
Dramatic. Beautiful use and contras...
8
8
8.5
6.5
7.75
Sarika Shetty
Sarika Shetty Partner at SJK Architects
Material tactility beautifully atte...
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.5
Sam Derrick
Sam Derrick Managing Director at Brinkworth
7.5
7
8
7.5
7.5
Laetitia Murguet
Laetitia Murguet Founder at Oani Studio
8
8
8.5
7
7.88
Billy Ip
Billy Ip Principal, Global Sector Leader - Retail at Woods Bagot
beautiful use of material and light...
7.5
7
8
7.5
7.5
Hong-Bo Cheng
Hong-Bo Cheng Founder and Creative Designer at LubanEra·Design
7
7
7
7
7
Fo Chen
Fo Chen General Manager at Guangzhou Baietan Mixc
8
7.5
8
8.5
8
Kevin Mclachlan
Kevin Mclachlan CEO at NOMADK
excellent use of space and lighting...
7
8.5
8
8
7.88
Client
Elorea
Floor area
108 ㎡
Completion
2024
Budget
600,000 USD
Social Media
Instagram

Studio Paul Chan transformed a 1920s Spanish Colonial Revival bell tower in Los Angeles’s Koreatown into Elorea, a sculptural perfumery and café. The design explores how scent can be experienced spatially—through light, material, and rhythm. A looping figure-eight display creates a ritualistic journey under the building’s historic dome, where guests meander through top, heart, and base notes like a living fragrance.

Materials were chosen for contrast and tactility: charred Shou Sugi Ban wood evokes ancient coastal craft, while CNC-milled aluminum and dark reflective glass inject a cyber-industrial edge. The inverted ziggurat form of the perfume bar nods to ceremonial altars, while the stone bar top has a hand-finished texture reminiscent of ink-wash landscapes. At night, underlit perfumes shimmer like votive candles, heightening the sense of intimacy and reverence.

The café extends this ritual of translation—offering drinks inspired by the perfumes themselves, blending taste and scent into shared experience. This is more than a boutique—it is an immersive environment where hyper-modern forms are wrapped in elemental materials, and architecture becomes a vehicle for feeling.