It was a case of Shelves and the City, when a County Antrim firm helped fit-out Dublin's premier Manolo Blahnik shoe store.

The brand, a staple fashion item for the characters of popular American TV series Sex and the City, made its European debut with the launch of a Georgian-style Dublin boutique, finished by Ballymena-based Patton Fit-Out.

Shoe-mogul Blahnik flew into the Irish capital for the opening of the new shoe emporium in Brown Thomas.

Mr Blahnik was accompanied by his niece Kristina Blahnik and her husband, Nick Leith Smith - both partners of Data Nature Associates, the architects who designed the interior.

Data Nature Associates, took inspiration for the luxurious interiors from the local Georgian city and its industrial and craft heritage, using materials and fabrics in natural colours and hues to emulate the Irish countryside.

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Kristina said: "The design challenges the preconceptions of the grand Georgian living room by juxtaposing rough industrial finishes with a classic wallpaper pattern selected and released from the Cole & Son archive."

Patton Fit-Out, a division of the Northern Ireland based Patton Group, converted the designs from paper into reality in a record four week timeframe.

Patton Fit-Out's Operations Manager, Jimmy Wallace said: "In terms of fit-outs it was a relatively small scheme but certainly one of the most testing we have ever encountered.

"This was not just because of the very intricate and lavish design, but also as it is within a store of Brown Thomas' nature, everything had to be absolutely perfect."

Patton's worked closely with Dublin based engineers, Arups and Project Managers PFS to overcome the numerous challenges of the fit-out contract.

"The concrete panels used on the walls were so heavy the floor would not have supported them alone, so we had to fix steel beams into the wall above the floor and then raise the floor to cover the beams," explained Colin Quinn, Patton's Project Manager.

"There was an element of risk and experimentation to the fitting out of this outlet - it took great confidence to achieve the desired effect,

"The shop is absolutely fantastic and we were delighted to work on such a job of such exclusive quality and uniqueness," he added.

(PR/JM)