“Over The Counter” is a space in Beirut city center dedicated to design accessories and furniture. The location and the setup of this space constituted a very important element in the choice of the name and the way the space was structured. As a matter of fact, “Over the Counter” was to be located inside an already existing wine and liquor shop. Our task was to integrate the design store within the wine shop and make it work as two companies sharing the same space.
The wine shop carried a French name, “Le Comptoir”, which inspired us the choice of an English name for our design store, “Over the counter”. It was adopted to explain the position of the design store on top of the wine and liquor store.
Starting from that idea, the whole project developed very naturally. The ground floor of the shop was divided lengthwise, the left side being for wine and the right one for design items. The 1^st floor is dedicated for the design world, and the basement hosts a wine cave and tasting area.
Even the store sign had to be completely redesigned in order to integrate the two different entities without one shading the other.
This work was completed in 4 months.