The international fine wine investment house was inspired to create London’s premier fine wine shop and bar where enthusiasts and collectors can experience the world’s top wines. While the investment house has offices and meeting spaces in London, Bordeaux, Tuscany, New York, Madrid and Munich, Oeno House is their first retail space. The new concept and London location open up the Oeno brand to city workers and a new community of wine lovers.
Spanning three floors, Oeno House is a contemporary take on the traditional wine merchants that provides an elevated wine tasting experience for both novices and seasoned wine connoisseurs alike.
The ground floor and mezzanine provide a welcoming and intimate retail space, where wines are showcased on tiered displays, and each bottle is accompanied by a QR code, allowing customers to discover more about the wine’s tasting notes and provenance. A gold framed fridge, specially made for the store, houses their chilled Champagne selection, while a second EuroCave cabinet stores wine in ideal conditions. At the back of the boutique, an illuminated slab of onyx provides a backdrop to present sixty bottles of fine wine, which appear to float in front of the glowing wall. The studio also created a double sided, jewel like, refrigerated display cabinet and a seasonal calendar of window displays allowing for changing presentations to highlight new and interesting vintages as they become available.
The cash wrap doubles up as a servery for sampling, events and the alfresco wine bar, inlaid with marble to provide an elegant front of house space.
To unite the ground floor and mezzanine spaces, Studio Four IV commissioned a Bocci chandelier. Made up of nineteen blown glass spheres, the composition creates an illuminated canopy of yellow, gold, amber and claret hues that provide a nod to the collection of wines and vintages represented in the store.
On the first floor, the designers created a quirky wine balustrade, where the architectural feature wraps around the curve of the mezzanine, leading guests to the next floor. Adding natural light to the mezzanine, customers have a view over the Royal Exchange’s central interior courtyard.
The second floor is home to a private meeting and tasting room, featuring a ten seat stone topped table, a servery and a scaled version of the chandelier found downstairs.
Throughout the summer months, Oeno House opens up its outdoor terrace.
At a time when luxury retail and hospitality is changing at such a pace, Oeno House provides the brand with a fresh, contemporary concept for its first physical home open to the public. In keeping with the times, the versatile space fulfils multiple functions, allowing Oeno to welcome existing clients and introduce new customers and guests to all that the brand has to offer.
Chris Dewar Dixon, Founder, Studio Four IV