Balthazar Wine Bar opened in 2019 in Kyiv, Ukraine. The seductive fusion of poised elegance and brooding mystery by Rina Lovko.
Designed by Rina Lovko Studio, the wine bar stays in the basement of Besarabsky Market. A historic indoor market at sublimely chic dungeon that makes the most of its subterranean.
At the entrance, we see a discrete triangular sign above an inconspicuous metal door. All the wine bar as an intimately immersive environment by filtering the building’s century-old industrial heritage through a lens of mid-century nostalgia and contemporary finesse.
The result is a unique wine bar that combines the uncanny ambiance of an age-old wine cellar with the allure of an exclusive speakeasy.
The process was very difficult, the unique premises in the basement of a century-old building posed both architectural and bureaucratic challenges to the design team.
However, Balthazar perspires an aesthetic, industrial heritage with a sensibility of mid-century sophistication. The color palette is earthy of browns and greens and mellowed by intimate lighting design.
You can feel and see the sense of refinement and sophistication in sumptuous leather and velvet upholstery. At the bar zone, you have walnut veneer covering all the bar counter and the table tops, and glazed green-tinted Soviet tiles.
Exposed brickwork, left intact or painted olive-green, cement floor tiles and metal furnishings.
The imposing entrance door which has been artificially rusted and graffitied is complemented by the use of wood from old wine barrels.
Specializes in the bespoke residential interior design, Rina Lovko is known for incorporating flowing lines and transmitting the uniqueness of nature in their projects.
To provide her clients not only with a new quality of life but with new experiences, the architect works only with natural sustainable materials.
*Like what you’ve read? Feel free to share on your social media by using the super-easy share buttons on the left! Read also A studio at The Adolphus Hotel
