BbyB, Tokyo

Ambitious Japanese design studio Nendo, helmed by the explorative Oki Sato, has brought together Pantones and cocoa with its design for Antwerp-based BbyB Chocolates’ Ginza store.

The design takes the modular form of the humble chocolate block and expounds upon it. Rows of blocks slot into a feature wall of clear Perspex display ‘drawers’, tiling the space with its own products. The blocks themselves are wrapped in minimalist single-colour sheets that when viewed from the front form a rainbow of Pantones akin to a wall of paint swatches. From the side, they re-create the appearance of the individual squares that make up a chocolate block.

Design studio Nendo has embraced the modularity of chocolate in its design for chocolatier BbyB.

It’s an approach that recognises the appeal to consumers of finding the ‘secret heart’ of a chocolate bar – a filling or flavour hidden by a chocolate coating – and draws it out by adding a layer of packaging that refuses to give away the mystery of what lies within.

The remainder of the store design heeds the narrow focus of the chocoholic, taking the eye from the wall of chocolate to an extraordinarily understated counter of grey marble suspended featuring unpackaged blocks of chocolate. Marked by a reversal of the stark white theme to one of moody black, an espresso bar at the rear provides a spot for customers to combine caffeine and confection.

The result is one where shop design, packaging and the act of consumption all meld together to delicious effect.