This Patchi boutique is not Lautrefabrique Architects’ first. Patchi an ultra-high-end Lebanese brand, world leader in chocolate, is present in thirty-five countries worldwide and omnipresent in the Middle East. The practice, based in south east France has designed many such stores for several years but this concept boutique, completed in late 2015 is exceptional in more ways than one.

Located in Jeddah, in the first open-air mall in the region, a new premium shopping destination in the second largest city in Saudi Arabia, it shows a new turn in the image of the designer brand of gift-chocolates: ever consistent with the excellence of the brand, with its exclusive positioning and its reputation for high quality and extreme elegance.

The vocabulary of this creation, always rich and luxurious, introduces further sophistication, with a touch of warmth, sensuality and a hint of baroque. Positioned at one end of the mall, the 110 m2 store resembles a jewelry-box from the outside: black marble facade, immediately eye-catching, decorated with light-boxes evoking traditional lanterns, copper letters, asymmetrical windows … The tone is set.

The entrance presents the visitor with a riot of visual effects, precious materials and eye catching objects on every side: a long glass counter houses a multitude of glass and plexiglass stands, displays of gourmet treasures overhung by the reflections of a copper mirror on the ceiling, an unexpected source of “warmth” and confusion of spaces … a full-height copper-work screen composed of the Patchi logo provides the privacy required at the threshold of the shop area.

Everything is smooth, lustrous and sparkling, from the wide black-lacquered reception desk that offsets the teeming colored shelves, lined with the famous anise and black Patchi boxes and the latest multicolored collections to the lighted niches, outlined by a black border, which magnify the treasures they protect beside a wall of ebony; broad stands of various sizes and heights, radiantly displaying gorgeous trays and other beautiful bowls and dishes.

If this opulent boutique seems to abound with countless chocolates, like jewels, gleaming in their shimmering attire, the place as a whole, faithful to the golden ratio, has very studied proportions. Note newcomers in this new version of the gourmet paradise: black and copper suspensions signed Tom Dixon, aligned above the long glass counter, textured Elitis wallpaper, furniture by Hay and a long Toulemonde Bochart carpet on the beige floor.

Marie Mazeau Ferret
Photography by Luc Boegly