Great pace: creamy concept store The Slow opens in Beirut
Lebanese architect Sari Kassouf opens concept store The Slow in Beirut, designed by Copenhagen-based studio Frama
Bali and Beirut might, at first blush, seem to have very little in common, apart from a pleasing alliterative ring or the whiff of a Raymond Chandler potboiler. But the Lebanese architect Sari Kassouf was so taken by a trip to the South-East Asian isle – its serenely bucolic pace of life, in particular – that he returned to Beirut determined to create a similarly evocative space that catered for slow human interactions around healthy, organic food, as well as a casual retail experience stocked with only sustainably sourced products.
The result is The Slow, a soothing creamy concept store containing shop, organic café, working and gallery space, meeting room and terrace on the ground floor of a former café in Mar Mikahel, a neighbourhood marked by lively streets and heaving with restaurants and bars.
Copenhagen-based studio Frama gutted the space right down to the internal walls, floors and windows and installed customized furniture, whilst pairing beige and lime washed walls with green concrete and marble table tops. Oiled pine and blackened detailing, meanwhile, create contrasting and repetitive patterns. The aim, the designers say, was to create ‘a calm atmosphere zoned for various activities from socializing and a quick coffee to a longer stay hang out’.
All of which creates a calm setting in which to slowly explore the restrained catalogue of sustainable brands from around the world, not least accessories and stoneware designed by Frama, Rotholz clothes, Seljak blankets, and Haeckel beauty products.
INFORMATION
theslow-lb.com
framacph.com
ADDRESS
Khalil Badawi Street
Asfahan
Beirut
Lebanon
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Discover Eve Arnold’s intimate unseen images of Marilyn Monroe
‘Marilyn Monroe by Eve Arnold’, published by ACC Art Books, is a personal portrayal of an icon
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Mallorca’s ‘chocolate hotel’ celebrates six decades of Mediterranean panache
Sixty years after it opened, Hotel de Mar remains a celebrated example of Mediterranean vernacular architecture
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Cadillac extends its EV portfolio with the new Vistiq, a luxury three-row SUV
If you absolutely have to drive an SUV, the launch of the Cadillac Vistiq means the marque now offers a full suite of electric options
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Outside the box: Birkenstock debuts a new mobile retail concept in Berlin
By Dal Chodha Last updated