Ruslan Baginskiy Office: Adaptive Minimalism in Kyiv
Step inside the stunning Ruslan Baginskiy office designed by Rina Lovko Studio, located in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Housed in the historic 19th-century House with Lions, this creative workspace blends adaptive minimalism with the brand’s innovative spirit. Explore how the design team skillfully preserved the building’s rich history while providing a functional and aesthetic environment for the renowned Ukrainian headwear brand.
About Ruslan Baginskiy
Rina Lovko Studio Designs Office for Ruslan Baginskiy Brand
Rina Lovko Studio recently designed an office for the creative team of the renowned Ukrainian headwear brand, Ruslan Baginskiy. The brand, frequently featured in international publications like Vogue, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, Elle, and W Magazine, is known for its innovative designs that blend traditional production techniques with progressive fashion views.
Preserving History in a 19th Century Building
The office, situated in Kyiv’s House with Lions, a 19th-century architectural monument, is next to the brand’s showroom. Although the original stucco was destroyed during the last reconstruction, Rina Lovko Studio applied its signature adaptive minimalism style to incorporate preserved interior elements. The designers left a brick wall with its texture flaws untouched, retained Soviet cast-iron batteries, and repainted the previous owners’ wardrobe to match the office palette.
To emphasize the high ceilings and maintain the building’s 200-year-old spirit, the designers installed open electrical wiring, rounded the walls to create a single streamlined space, and painted all surfaces in a uniform palette. The light gray industrial microcement floor complements the overall design.
Functional and Aesthetic Spaces for the Creative Team
After studying the Ruslan Baginskiy team’s needs, the interior design focused on functionality and aesthetics. A custom table was created for six workstations with individual light sources for the design and content teams. The area also includes a wardrobe for fabric samples, new products, and accessories, as well as the creative director’s workspace featuring shelves for sketches and inspirational decor elements.
The CEO’s Office: A Blend of Privacy and Openness
Designing the CEO’s office was a challenge, as it needed to accommodate private meetings while maintaining the open space’s atmosphere. The solution was a transparent, soundproof glass partition that also functions as a dry erase board.
Vintage Furniture and Collaborative Spaces
The adjacent area houses the sales team, PR department, a kitchenette, and a lavatory adorned with pink ceramic tiles. The co-owner and PR director’s workspace highlights vintage furniture, including a 1959 teak table and a chest of drawers discovered in a Danish market.
The Kyiv office marks the second collaboration between Rina Lovko Studio and Ruslan Baginskiy. The architect previously worked on the renovation of the adjacent showroom. The project showcases the brand’s aesthetics, with a preference for the beauty of imperfection over unhealthy perfectionism. The CEO’s children decorated the walls with drawings, and the interior features creative chaos and mostly vintage furniture, such as GDR-era green table lamps, armchairs from Switzerland upholstered in sky-blue fabric, and 1960s accent lamps by Dutch GEPO.
The office has adapted to the brand’s team over time, with walls adorned with Ruslan Baginskiy campaigns from different seasons, fashion magazines, awards, mood boards, and, of course, new hats in various shapes gracing the shelves and tables.
Photography by Yevhenii Avramenko
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- by Matt Watts
