The Alchemy shop in downtown Toronto adopts a ‘David Lynchian aesthetic’
Studio Paolo Ferrari, a Toronto-based interior design practice, has completed the Alchemy cannabis shop in the Canadian city’s downtown district. Described as ‘Canada’s first highly immersive cannabis retail store’, the licensed shop has been designed with a multisensory approach and is meant to feel less like a clichéd cannabis shop and more like a high-end fashion or contemporary design boutique.
‘For us, the store is somewhere between a laboratory and temple,’ says Ferrari. ‘It is a serene environment with energetic bursts.’ The arrival area contains a verdant plant installation under a circular light. Once inside, the environment is defined by bold, curved shapes and pops of bright colour. A white-stained, sculptural ash table sharply contrasts with an aluminum lattice ceiling.
High-tech elements include custom cannabis sniff jars – which give product descriptions on a screen when customers interact with them – and a self-checkout table engineered from solid aluminium sheet and outfitted with custom wheels.
The accessories room is an immersive orange experience, with what the studio describes as ‘a cinematic David Lynchian aesthetic’. The small space includes a mirrored ceiling, carpeted floor and undulating orange walls formed in eco-resin, which recall thick velvet curtains. Products, meanwhile, are displayed on an illuminated shelf. Finally, a checkout area strikes a different material tone, defined by terracotta brick, aluminium walls and terrazzo flooring.
Photography by Joel Esposito
