DAILY BREAD, Britomart
In collaboration with Sgùrr, our design goal was to embody Daily Bread's strong yet inviting branding in a clean and spacious interior. We meticulously developed a subdued colour palette and incorporated materials inspired by nature throughout the space, ensuring a harmonious blend with the historic essence of the Kronfeld Building. This approach not only enhanced the ambiance but also reinforced our client's brand identity and presence within the Britomart Precinct. Mirroring the ethos of Daily Bread's branding, the design aimed to be welcoming and accessible.
Daily Bread Britomart occupies the heritage Kronfeld Building in downtown Auckland, a restored warehouse within the Britomart Precinct, a boutique hospitality and high-end retail destination in the heart of the city. The 120-seat bakery flagship establishes Daily Bread's most ambitious site to date — a hospitality-led expression of the Auckland-based brand within one of the city's most considered heritage settings.
The brief called for a flagship that would translate Daily Bread's prescription of hand-crafted, locally sourced ingredients into spatial terms — a bakery, café, and retail offering that could anchor the brand's growth while sitting in dialogue with the building's restored fabric. Every fixed element was treated as an opportunity to embody this ethos through material and making.
The central move was to celebrate the theatre of production by allowing it to be on display and experienced firsthand by the customer. Existing heritage brick, kauri flooring, and pronounced jarrah columns establish the room's warmth and patina, drawing a restrained, neutral palette across everything introduced. A long communal dining table, poured in situ from local aggregates and gently heated, sits as a strong spatial gesture at the Customs Street East entrance. A fully operational open-plan kitchen, with retained exposed ducting, stainless steel surfaces, and visible machinery, stands as a dynamic backdrop. A full prep kitchen in the basement supports this site and Daily Bread's wider Auckland operation.
Lighting is calibrated to illuminate the heritage timber floor structure overhead. Suspended LED strip up-lighting is used to wash the timber structure, while focused spots throw light to the floor. HVAC services are treated as elements to be celebrated rather than concealed — part of the same exposed, handmade language as the bakery operation below.
Material finishes extend the language of the handmade. Natural lime render lines the walls across the interior, while service counters are finished in tadelakt, lending a polished, water-tight depth against the lime. Jarrah leaners tie in with the timber notes of the existing columns; hand-stitched banquette seating, hand-built ceramic pendants, and the Daily Plastic Stool, a roto-moulded piece designed by Alasdair Tarry and fabricated in New Zealand for this location, complete a fit-out conceived entirely for this site.
Interior design and strategy by Sgùrr and Keegan Davis. Lodgement and council coordination by Strata Architects.
