A feast for the eyes and the palate

The Dolci Luxury Taste pastry shop in the town of Lissone in the northern Italian region of Lombardy is not just an elegant place for the production and sale of handmade pastries, it is also a popular venue for daytime and evening entertainment. Designed by SGD — Studio Giuseppe Dondoni, the establishment has a total floor space of 400 sq.m on two floors and adopts a range of functional and distribution solutions. The counter extends over a length of almost fifteen metres, serving as a cafeteria in a corner section. The displays of freshly baked products create a street market atmosphere, while the wall behind the counter with its offset burnished copper plates divides the public spaces from the area where the pastries are made and baked.
The eight windows that surround the shop look out onto the street and offer a view of the open kitchen area where the pastries are finished and packaged. Enormous custom-made hollow cylindrical lamps dominate the interior and are visible from the street, creating a bold, surreal atmosphere. Between these ceiling-mounted fixtures runs a curved luminous slit containing coloured LEDs. The entire lighting system is managed from a control unit that creates custom ambiences suited to different times of day. The lower floor is the ideal venue for events, with artfully designed settings created from screen-printed and backlit mirrors and a spatial layout that can be altered according to the intended use, giving the area an intentionally night-time atmosphere.
«The entire project is focused on selling and promoting the produce while at the same time creating an entertainment venue where light and colours adapt to the different times of day and night,» explained architect Giuseppe Dondoni. «The technical systems and the natural effects of stone, wood and copper alongside innovative new features such as the illuminated slits in the ceiling fit in perfectly with this philosophy.» In this context, the use of the Le Essenze glazed porcelain tile collection from Rex produces exactly the right combination of wood texture and sizes, in perfect harmony with other materials. The elegant Fraké finish in a 13×80 cm size and low thickness offers a totally faithful reproduction of natural wood, combing exceptional aesthetic qualities with a strong sense of depth. The ceramic floor tiles were chosen for their strong colour and natural appearance and are also used in the baking area, giving the entire establishment a prestigious yet homely appearance.