Luminary Bakery

International architecture and interior practice Red Deer have designed the headquarters and second site for Luminary Bakery, a social enterprise designed to offer opportunities for women to build a future using baking as a tool to employability and entrepreneurship, equipping them with transferrable skills for the working world.
 
Located in Camden, London, the site which opened in October 2019 was primarily designed by Red Deer to offer a welcoming space for disadvantaged women; but much more than that, it is a home away from home for each new trainee and strikes a dynamic balance between charity and commerce.
 
Set on Chalk Farm Road in an old bagel shop, the 1500 sq ft site is divided into a café and bakery serving freshly baked cakes, bread, brunch and freshly ground coffee, alongside also being a cookery school.
 
Collaborating closely with the founders of the Luminary Bakery, Red Deer designed a modern yet approachable space which echoes the ethos of the charity and references its original Hackney site.
 
As part of the approach for the interior concept, the programmatic requirements and the elongated site were married to create a natural flow. Red Deer encouraged lines of sight between the cafe and bakery to place awareness to the importance of high-quality local produce.
 
A palette of soft grey and tonal greens, painted dado lines, mid-century furniture and lighting, old reclaimed church pews and black and white checker-board tiles grace the café, with its upper floors designed by Red Deer to create an environment that provides staff and trainees with the warmth and intimacy necessary for counselling rooms, office spaces and classrooms.
 
With a subtle nod to the Great British Bake Off, the cookery school combines individual stainless steel sections, iconic KitchenAids, white painted brickwork and baskets of ivy hang from the original wooden beams.

A rewarding pro bono project, Red Deer aimed to create an informal canvas that would allow organic growth and be enriched over time by each trainee, customer and member of the Luminary family.