Following the opening of standalone stores at homebase Ekaterinburg and in Moscow, contemporary jewellery brand Avgvst expands yet again with a new flagship store in St. Petersburg, Russia‘s cultural capital and a sizeable hub for upscale shopping. The store is situated just off Nevskiy Prospekt, a thoroughfare lined with prestigious landmarks crossing the historic city centre, and sees a new collaboration between Avgvst‘s creative director Natalia Bryantseva and Harry Nuriev of New York City-based architecture practice Crosby Studios. The store occupies two adjacent units of 129 sqm. (1,389 sq.ft.) on the ground floor of a residential structure which was originally built in 1836 and both redeveloped and expanded in the early 1960s. The interior design, inspired by iconic modernist objects, such as Le Corbusier‘s Notre-Dame du Haut chapel and the flowing contours of Alvar Aalto‘s Savoy vase, is an oasis of minimalism. Concrete flooring, walls and ceilings form the backdrop of few but striking volumes in either matching grey or in a contrasting bright yellow hue. The latter element is anchored by a decorative wall made of 10,000 wooden rods which seemingly meanders from one corner to another, connecting three sections shoppers will find on the premises—a reception desk, retail space, and for a soothing break in between shopping sprees, a full-fledged coffee parlour. Bryantseva and her staff, modern urbanites all the way, swear by the joys of good coffee, and got in touch with Ekaterinburg-based company Papa Carlo to join in. Furnishings are few and similarly understated, and adapt to the grey and yellow colour scheme. Obviously, Nuriev also designed the coffee shop setting, but that’s not all, as the tableware also bears his signature. Interestingly, the Avgvst store concept has another unexpected feature with which it aligns itself with modern urban culture: a permanent piercing and tattoo studio concealed behind a secret door. The brand’s retail expansion is in full swing as another retail space in the Russian capital already looms on the horizon.