Messana O’Rorke Designs a Crisp, Clean Store in NoLIta for Malin+Goetz

It was a stroll down an East Village street with his Jack Russell terrier that first connected architect Toby O’Rorke to Malin + Goetz founders Andrew Goetz and Matthew Malin. His firm, Messana O’Rorke, co-led by architect Brian Messana, has since designed five shops in Los Angeles and New York for the skin- and hair-care brand, each a nod to its neighborhood. A 19th-century trader’s store inspired the latest 350-square-foot outpost in NoLIta, where “the product is the focus and pop,” Messana explains. The walls, ceiling, and floor are a mix of matte and glossy black, crisply contrasting with the creams, soaps, and shampoos packaged in clean white boxes and bottles. Veined Italian marble topping the service counters helps unify the palette.