Nina + Co MONC eyewear store in London

Cornstarch-foam shelves meet mycelium display plinths in this London store that Nina + Co has designed for bioplastic eyewear brand MONC.

Nestled among a parade of high-end shops in Marylebone, MONC sells glasses made from bio-acetate – an acetate produced completely without fossil fuels – which are packaged using recycled leather cases and compostable cornstarch foam.

Upon entering the store, visitors find themselves under an undulating ceiling installation crafted from corrugated panels of cornstarch foam.

Thicker blocks of the material were used to create rows of squishy-looking shelves, which can be used for packaging or simply dissolved in water when they eventually start to show signs of wear and tear.

The craggy concrete was chosen as a subtle nod to the rugged Dolomite mountains, which can be seen from the Italian town where all MONC eyewear is produced.

When local studio Nina + Co was brought in to design MONC’s debut store, the team was keen to incorporate biomaterials throughout the interior, while also taking the brand’s short-term lease of the retail unit into account.

“Circularity was key,” said the studio. “Almost everything we brought into that building was entirely bio-based or recycled.”

“The furniture is expertly built to last but can be disassembled for re-use, recycling or return to the earth as nourishment.”

Display plinths made out of mycelium – the vegetative part of a fungus – were dotted across the store to showcase different eyewear models.

In between the shelves, a couple of long mirrors are balanced on hunks of concrete that were salvaged from roadworks nearby.