Paying homage to the decaying splendour of Manila’s architectural heritage, Aesop SM Aura is a realm of moss-green composure. The brand’s in-house design team looked to the harmonious lines of the city’s Art Deco Metropolitan Theatre—built in 1931—while also studying the gridded, luminous language of traditional Capiz shell façades.

The store is a stage of sorts, where visitors from the bustling mall can slow down and engage in reveries of architecture and skin care. Details from the historic theatre’s original interiors are reimagined as terraced plaster walls where verdant hues wash over every surface. Within these stepped frames, a grid of wood wool tiles resembles Capiz shell installations. The responsibly sourced timber fibres absorb sound and enhance air quality, ensuring serene repose for customers and consultants. Upon the store’s decommissioning, the tiles will be composted and return their richness to the soil. In their current placement, they glow with the nurturing radiance of the overhead lantern, recalling the Capiz lamps that stand at the Metropolitan Theatre’s entrance.