ALUSION™ continues shaping the Baker Bleu brand evolution at Botanical
Updated: 3 hours ago
Baker Bleu’s newest store, Botanical, demonstrates how a compact retail tenancy can be transformed into an engaging customer experience. IF Architecture has further refined the design language it developed for the brand’s most recent store in Cremorne, creating a new space in South Yarra that feels satisfyingly familiar yet distinctly suited to its new more residential setting.
Sandwiched between two local schools and located opposite Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens and close to Faulkner Park, Baker Bleu Botanical’s customers are on the move. They’re collecting bread, pastries and coffee before heading into the surrounding parklands, or popping in for coffee after school drop off. The location is perfectly suited to a grab-and-go tenancy.
And, as anticipated, the design is a standout.
"The design aesthetic carried on from the Cremorne location, it felt like a natural fit, but it also felt like we hadn't really explored that idea to its full resolution,” says Iva Foschia, Director of IF Architecture.
Materials are again integral to the architectural narrative, but this time, experienced slightly differently: at close proximity, given the compact proportions of the tenancy, and scaled to heighten their impact.
A defining element of the Baker Bleu brand evolution is ALUSION™. Inspired by the alveoli of sourdough crumb, these lightweight, recycled aluminium panels reinforce Baker Bleu's artisanal identity along with its commitment to industrial efficiency and reuse. ALUSION™ is once again a key design feature but adapted to suit the architecture of the space. Rather than simply lining the walls, it is an integral part of the customer journey.
"Having the ALUSION™ panels on the walls in the path of travel really made a feature of ALUSION™ but also helped quite a narrow space and gave a point of interest. Either you're walking to the point of sale or you're waiting in a queue to get to the point of sale, so it became a feature of the space rather than just a path of travel," Iva explains.
This approach differs from Baker Bleu's Cremorne store, where customers experience the material from the front as they enter.
"At Cremorne, when you walk in the door the counter is facing towards you, so you’re walking towards the ALUSION™ and you don't get to experience or realise the open cells until you get a lot closer. Whereas at Botanical, purely because of the spacial arrangement, you're always going to be seeing it side on and quite close. So, the impact of the ALUSION™ wasn't going to be the same as it is in Cremorne; it naturally lent itself to being expressed in another way given that it’s the hero material and you want people to engage with it,” Iva continues.
ALUSION™ sits opposite the galvanised steel joinery wall, which displays Baker Bleu’s signature loaves, bagels and pastries, creating a dialogue between the project's two primary materials. A textured arched wall is a warm, soft contrast to the rectilinear forms of the tenancy, metal joinery and ALUSION™. Full height glazing and a new servery window strengthen the connection to the street and the park opposite, supporting the store's takeaway-focused operation while activating the shopfront.
Despite the smaller footprint, the design delivers the complete Baker Bleu experience:
"Baker Bleu Botanical is the essence of Baker Bleu, but in more of a petite environment. It’s something that makes me very happy, it has the same extent of the offering, and even though it's a smaller environment, you're not getting less of a Baker Bleu experience. In the design of the space, we've managed to still hit all the touch points that contribute to the Baker Bleu world, even though it’s in a petite tenancy."
For IF Architecture, the most rewarding and enjoyable part of this project was deepening its relationship with Baker Bleu, having the opportunity to work with the owners over years, developing and refining the brand:
"Really finding our stride with the brand and understanding it so well or well enough that we can make these moves in the design, see it come to life and read the lineage between all of the stores and also see the evolution and confidence that's coming into the brand, has been particularly satisfying.”
Client: Baker Bleu
Architect: IF Architecture
Builder: Trust Projects
Photography: Sharyn Cairns
