Once a run-of-the-mill factory built in the 1990s, Hongfang Industrial Park is Fuzhou’s attempt to rebrand itself as a design centre, the former buildings stealthily repurposed as creative incubators and hotbeds for industrial design and modernised lacquer production.
It’s fitting then that Xie Suting, the Design Director of DC. Design, has created a French patisserie that looks more like an upmarket furniture retailer than a place that serves up a mean chocolate éclair and millefeuilles.
The bones of the former plant are barely visible, save for the original high ceilings which now incorporate floor-to-ceiling windows, and a second level which features a solid black rimmed vitrine that floats out over the striking white and grey space – the latter dressed with low-slung tables and angular mid-century-inspired furniture.
As it turns out, the unadorned monochromatic palette is a subtle ploy to allow pastry chef Xiao Liwen’s sweetly colourful creations to take centre stage. §
