Black Star Pastry has unveiled its first location outside of Australia with the opening of a flagship store in Shanghai. Located within a red brick villa on Yuyuan Road, design studio Linehouse—in partnership with Black Star principal and creative director Louis Li—transformed the site into a two-floor destination comprising confections and coffee on the ground floor and a dining room, dubbed the Black Star Gallery, on the upper level.
“The design of the Shanghai flagship store was a statement for the brand,” says Linehouse cofounder Alex Mok. “We wanted them to feel transported, immediately whisked away to another immersive world.”
An astronomic theme permeates the ground floor, with focal points like nine revolving and levitating space capsules that showcase cakes. Thousands of “meteorites” made from obsidian as well as polished and sandblasted stainless steel are backlit upon stainless steel shelving that tilts into a wave as it ascends toward the ceiling. The phrase “we are all just stardust” lines communal tables to further amplifies the concept. “For level one, the main vision was an exploration of gravity versus weightlessness,” Mok adds. “For the second floor, the task was to create a monochrome-yet-handsome gallery space that allowed the artworks to be the centerpiece.”
While the street level echoes a spaceship, the second floor embodies as a parallel universe accessed via rough cast concrete terrazzo stairs. Animated by a range of artwork, the exhibition-style dining room serves as a tearoom by day and a cocktail lounge by night. Gridded metal ceilings span the space above the terrazzo floors that infuse a museum quality. There, an intimate private bar wrapped in acid etched blue metal, is sheathed by a blue velvet curtain, beyond which black timber floors fold onto the walls.
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