While popular Chinese bakery Luxihe has multiple locations, the studio avoided a standardized mall interior by designing a space that spotlights the bakers themselves.

Key features
Tapped to recreate the previously Chinese garden-themed Luxihe store at a Wuhan mall, Kooo Architects questioned how to develop an interior that would better allow customers to feel the ‘human touch’ behind the star pastries. ‘Although the store was designed well enough to function as a bakery, it is always inevitable that people will feel the standardized atmosphere of chain stores,’ the team shares. ‘It was difficult to feel the warmth of baking and selling on-site and the attentiveness of the bakers.’ The answer to their query came through multiple strategies: installing a public-facing baking room, creating a spacious browsing area and the use of handcrafted materials.

Connecting visitors to the process of pastry-making and the Luxihe experts behind it all, the baking room is finished with green tiles. While relatively small, the space stands out amid the otherwise neutral setting. Adjacent is the browsing area, which is punctuated by display furniture handmade with woven bamboo and porcelain. The microcement flooring and diatomite wall cladding also reflect Kooo Architects’ commitment to utilizing artisan-made elements throughout the bakery.

Frame’s take
A palette cleanser for shoppers inundated by the stimuli of mall shopping, the Luxihe space helps to humanize a notoriously commercial setting. Kooo Architects’ clear respect for the art of baking translates in the space itself, smartly accentuated by the various artisanal features. As the architects explain: ‘We decided not only to design the store for the dessert as a commodity but also to express the enthusiasm of the bakers.’ By establishing that as a priority early on in the project, the team was able to execute a space that truly feels authentic in an environment that so rarely delivers that – something sure to resonate with customers.