Shadow Baking by Sans-Arc Studio
Shadow Baking’s first South Australian location sits on Glenelg’s Jetty Road, compressing a full patisserie program into a tight tenancy with an open kitchen at its centre.
Adelaide-based Sans-Arc Studio treats the room less as a shopfront and more as a working floor, bringing customers close to preparation, proving, baking and cooling rather than keeping the action behind a counter line.
The layout privileges workflow and visibility in equal measure. Back-of-house work feeds directly into the public zone, and the customer area is kept deliberately lean, more like a threshold to the kitchen than a separate dining room. With most of the footprint allocated to staff and equipment, the remaining space becomes an edge condition for perching, waiting and watching, where baked goods remain the focal point.
Material choices reinforce the bakery’s directness. Stainless steel, brushed nickel and galvanised finishes establish a hard-wearing frame, offset by textured plaster walls, tan upholstery and terrazzo that add tactility and warmth. A dark-red, zig-zagging concrete counter, produced with Forms Concrete, anchors the plan and introduces a sculptural note, its folded profile recalling the layered geometry of pastry without tipping into novelty.
Light and filtration fine-tune the atmosphere. Perforated stainless screens temper the shine of metal surfaces and soften the interior’s industrial register while maintaining clear sightlines across the room. At the threshold, a glossy red entry door signals a bolder street presence and links the venue’s energy to Gelato Messina, its sibling offering.
The concept brings together culinary talents Tom Mitchell, Florian Fritsch and Remi Talbot, with Sans-Arc founder Matiya Marovich leading architecture and interiors. A forthcoming North Adelaide location will continue the dialogue between venues via a glass connection to an adjacent Messina gelateria, extending the project’s emphasis on transparency, process and the everyday theatre of making.
