maison saint-honore exterior

In: Commercial, Projects

Maison Saint-Honore is a highly reputable local brand with a cult following – they specialize in the crafting of high quality, authentic and delicious macarons as well as a smorgasbord of French pastry + ice-cream, all of which are made onsite.  This is the owner’s dream – a combination of a café, retail outlet, showroom, pastry cooking school, factory and distribution center all in the one building.

Situated in the Swan Valley region, the establishment takes advantage of the strong food and wine culture and tourism industry of the area.  The existing country-church-like building was abandoned, neglected for decades and was in a dilapidated state with distasteful white ‘shell’ renders [we referred to as ‘cake icing’].  The client saw the site as a rough diamond and courageously took it on board.

Gerry Kho Architects worked closely with the client throughout the process from design till the end of construction.  We decided from the start to remove the ‘cake icing’ from the exterior and interior of the building to reveal the brickwork hidden behind.  What we didn’t expect was the large array of different types and colours of bricks used by the original contractor of the building!  This resulted in an interesting and strangely attractive ‘patchwork’ appearance to the walls which the client loved.  We also decided to retain the existing timber ceilings, high level windows, stained glass windows and steel trusses which gave the building its character and charm.  The design of the interior made use of these existing elements and showcased them as features rather than hiding or changing them.