Tabaco Club

Set in the heart of Rhodes, Tabaco Club is a cigar, tobacco and accessories shop designed as a ritual. It occupies a long, narrow plot that unfolds over two levels: the shop at street level and, deep inside, a mezzanine cigar lounge. Its defining gesture is a sculpted oak-veneer vault that runs the full depth of the store. Softly lit along its length, it disguises the narrowness of the plan, draws the eye inwards with a quiet sense of mystery and has become the signature of the shop. Beneath it, wall-set display cases framed in marble-effect porcelain present each piece like an exhibit, their cubic geometry echoing the character of the space, while a walk-in glass humidor holds the collection.

A woven basketwave mosaic floor leads to a sculptural marble-effect staircase that opens up in depth and rises to the cigar lounge. Upstairs, Akoya Ocean slabs line the main wall like a stone boiserie, with lit niches for the products, and marble-effect volumes of varying heights become plinths. Crystal chandeliers and the linear lighting of the display cases choreograph reflections across the surfaces. Golden touches recur throughout, in the window displays, frames and light fittings, and culminate in a gold Water Ripple metal-laminate wall that catches the chandeliers in a shimmering, playful glow.

The result is a refined, almost ceremonial sequence of rooms, intimate and quietly confident.

Winner – BIG SEE Interior Design Award 2024 (Retail)

Materials and lighting: combed-finish Vratsa marble façade by Kiriazis Natural Stone · oak veneer · Lux Experience Taj Mahal lappato marble-effect porcelain slabs (staircase, plinths, cabinet frames and floor) and Lux Experience Taj Mahal Basketwave mosaic (floor runner) by Italgraniti · Akoya Ocean Krystal 90×180 wall slabs (cigar lounge) by Ceramica Sant’Agostino · tiles supplied by Tselios Bagno and installed by Alex Tile Art · gold Water Ripple metal laminate (471/636) by Homapal, supplied by Katsaras · gold-finish folded-steel frames, painted by Rodolak · lighting by Electron (via Kafkas) · mirrors by Kappos Yalodynamiki · air conditioning by Ventus Air.

Credits: Design: Eleni Karimali Architect · Photography: Milton Louiz