Description:

Grizzly (Grizzly Baked Goods) are well-known locally for their range of artisanal sourdough bread, creative pastries and other leavened goods. Although they have grown and expanded from their humble beginnings selling bagels at the local farmers market, they remain true to their boutique, crafted roots. The owners, husband & wife duo Sam & Sara approached us with an almost perfect site. A small ex-cafe tenancy in the heart of Christchurch’s business district. The catch? It felt a little bit too new. Our brief was to design a high traffic spatial solution that would sit pretty within the new space whilst carrying the same character as their original and humble hole-in-the-wall bakery window.

The architecturally designed site features expansive West-facing glazing and a four-metre stud height to the concrete rib & infill mid floor above. As the initial visual point of contact, the first decision was to dress the entirety of the existing, rather insipid (white paint) Eastern wall in a considered selection of materials & finishes that add colour, texture and contrast without being overbearing. These materials then flow seamlessly into the rest of the space. We played with eye-catching (Wes-Anderson inspired) proportions with the intent of drawing the eye to the fitout itself rather than the modern shop frontage it sits behind.

We opted for a durable three-tier tiling system to counter the busy location. A terracotta floor forms the base grid for our spatial layout, where a dark-flecked terrazzo toe kick extrudes from the grout lines, wrapping the space can take a knock without showing imperfections while a subtle small-format white mosaic heroes the goods on offer. We worked closely with the builder who meticulously ensured every surface had a flush joint and that every grout line aligns with a piece of furniture almost as if each item was extruding out of the floor. To contrast the hard tiled surfaces, we implemented a board & batten cladding made of gaboon and japanese cedar, both warm in tone with intense sweeping grains.