Dezeen Magazine

The Drug Store in London's Marylebone, designed by Johan Obel and Clemens Böninger

The Drug Store avoids being a "shady" CBD retailer with gallery-style interiors

Products infused with CBD are dotted throughout sparse gallery-like rooms inside west London's The Drug Store, which has been designed by the brand's co-founders and studio Lars Hartmann.

Situated in the affluent neighbourhood of Marylebone, The Drug Store occupies two floors of a townhouse which formerly served as an exhibition space for works by British artist Damien Hirst.

The Drug Store in London's Marylebone, designed by Johan Obel and Clemens Böninger

The two-floor shop offers a range of wellness products that contain CBD, also known as cannabidiol – a substance that occurs naturally in cannabis plants, increasingly used for its stress and anxiety-reducing qualities.

CBD is legal in the UK, unlike THC, the component in cannabis that is attributed to giving users the feeling of a "high".

This is the first bricks-and-mortar retail space for the brand, which until now has exclusively sold products online via its website or in pop-up shops across London's Chelsea and Notting Hill.

"The pop-ups gave us a chance to prove we were a real company and not just 'another shady shop on the internet'," said the brand's co-founders Johan Obel and Clemens Böninger, who developed the store with the help of Copenhagen-based design studio Lars Hartmann.

The Drug Store in London's Marylebone, designed by Johan Obel and Clemens Böninger

In a nod to the building's past, the ground floor of the store has been designed as a minimalist gallery-style space with simple white walls.

"Our mission has been to distance CBD from any stigma that might be attached to cannabis-derived products," explained Obel and Böninger.

"The design evolved as we continued striving towards a clean and premium aesthetic rather than excessive use of cannabis leaf designs, in order to break down barriers and lift any hesitation that first time CBD customers may have when visiting our store."

Splashes of colour are provided by a series of artworks by Danish photographer Steen Evald and an olive-green curtain that has been draped in front of a wall.

A slice of tree trunk balanced on thin timber legs forms a central display table, crafted by Danish cabinetmaker Laura Bergsøe. She also created a series of tall white plinths for the store that are topped with green stone tiles.

Smaller products like serum bottles are displayed directly underneath artworks on small wooden ledges.

"Our power lies in curating a useful selection and combination of products to help our customers find what they are looking for – rather than becoming a store that stocks every CBD product around," the pair added. 

Upstairs on the first floor are a couple of treatment rooms where customers can receive CBD-based spa treatments.

The Drug Store in London's Marylebone, designed by Johan Obel and Clemens Böninger

With the use of CBD on the rise, retail spaces dedicated to the substance are popping up across the globe.

June of this year saw the opening of Standard Dose in New York, which boasts pale-pink surfaces, arched doorways and potted plants. As well as CBD products, the store includes calming spaces for yoga classes and meditation.

Photography is by Jon Attenborough.