Arch. Matius ICHIM

“Arhitectura de retail. Dona, o farmacie cum toate ar trebui sa fie”
The drug-store chain Dona is investing 15 mil euros in a complex rebranding process for all its units.

The mock-up location, Liviu Rebreanu is the result of an international contest for rebranding. This is the subject of GIS presentation, under the slogan: “a drug-store as all should be”.

The slogan has become the core of the visual identity, by aspects concerning improvement of the customer experience along with increase in comfort for pharmacists. The display spaces have been recreated, the patient interaction points have been re-designed, so as to facilitate an efficient communication, lighting solutions have been improved. The drug store has now a modern aspect, warm and welcoming. Last, but not least, the design follows “green” principles for the resource consumption.

Dona is one of the biggest Romanian pharmaceutical chain, with full local capital, present for more than 20 years on the local market. The company has 1,500 employees, 230 units and serves more than 1 million patients from all over the country.

Arch. Matius Ichim has graduated from G.M. Cantacuzino Architecture University in Iasi. He is passionate about architecture and people as well, devoting his career to understanding retail as social phenomenon, redefining exchange of both material and spiritual goods between people.

With every tackled commercial unit, Matius falls in with, but also recreates the essential rules of such spaces: brand visual identity, memorability, managing client fluxes, defining client interaction points with commercial space.

Matius has become known in retailer world as a specialized architect, being constantly invited to international fairs (Dusseldorf, Milano, Frankfurt, London). In 2015, in Bucharest and Hermannstadt, Matius has developed together with Philips, a project dedicated  to International Lighting Year, named “Architecture, Emotion, Light”; the core concept was based on the contemporary human being interaction with light, as well as communicating emotions through light.

Matius Studio is the only one in Romania specialized exclusively in retail architecture and branding. Matius has a team of 17 people, that transform up to 15% of the total number of each shopping mall in Romania.

Every week, a Matius project is launched in Romania. Among the stores in its portfolio you can find the following: LC Waikiki, Jacadi, Oxybul, Killtec, Sport Vision, Lacoste, Frey Wille, Lancel as implementation projects and Diamond by Adesgo (local producer of stockings since 1926), Noriel – leader in Romanian toy market, Autograf – the single stationery network, F64 – the famous photo-video shop in Bucharest (second largest in Europe), Agnes Toma as concept projects.