Sandra Tarruella updates the concept of the traditional bakery with her designs for the L’Obrador chain.

The L’Obrador chain of bakeries proves that traditional craft and cutting edge interior design are by no means mutually exclusive. The latest bakery to open, located in Sabadell, takes up where the others have left off under the stewardship of the Sandra Tarruella design studio. The design approach accommodates the entire elaboration process and sampling of the baked bread within a warm and comfortable environment that brings the traditional bakery right up to date.

All the shops belonging to the chain designed by Tarruella maintain a visual connection between all the constituent spaces allowing the customer to observe the home made bread baking process through all its stages.

The serving counter located within the shop is made from the same continuous concrete flooring material and forms the main design element together with the rotating bread baskets that connect with the bakery directly behind.

In the case of Sabadell the bakery itself can be observed from the street and is treated with the same importance as the sales area.

For the first time with the group’s outlets the dining area is enlarged and is grouped together with an external courtyard which can be seen from the entrance. The bakery maintains a similar aesthetic and palette of materials like the cement, the oak wood, cast iron ….

Sabadell’s L’Obrador introduces a new element, a rough saw cut pine clad wall with a dusty white finish also used on the ceiling. The wood underlines the importance of these bright public spaces.

The shop connects with the eating area via a corridor space characterised by different floor and ceiling levels.

Taking advantage of an already existing concrete mezzanine, such a structure has been converted into a storage area for sacks of flour displaying the quality of the core ingredient in the elaboration of the breads, combined with sourdough and local flours left to repose over long hours before being oven baked following traditional techniques.

L’Obrador Sarrià

At the L’Obrador in Sarria (also designed by the Taruella studio and opened just before the Sabadell outlet) the highly visual approach that celebrates the process within the bakery is also emphasised: a double height entrance connects visually with the bakery located on the first floor via a large window. The views are accentuated with a set of suspended mirrors, like theatrical props, which underline the height of the entrance.

L’Obrador Sarrià

L’Obrador Sarrià

Photographs: Meritxell Arjalaguer