Slap in the centre of Sydney’s CBD, the Strand Arcade dates back to 1891 and was one of the last arcades to be built in Victorian Sydney. 

As one of Sydney’s central shopping hubs, the arcade still thrives today with independent Australian retailers, and now boasts an elegant patisserie on the ground floor.

Sweet Infinity is the brainchild of young pastry chef Leanne Beck, the first branch of which was born on Riley Street in Woolloomooloo.

For the second boutique, Beck called upon Group GSA to devise an interior that reflected the sweet and savoury pastries conceived in her kitchen.

“Our challenge for Sweet Infinity was to establish not only the company’s first retail-only store but also a brand identity that was intrinsic to the business.”

“It was important that the cooking process be expressed in the display of the end product; that each cake or quiche was handmade and unique,” Group GSA Director Lisa-Maree Carrigan said.

To incorporate the notion of the cooking process into the concept for the store, the wall behind the counter was adorned with cake tins set on a raspberry-coloured wall.

The fit-out features a floor to ceiling mirror, which faces the counter creating an illusion of spaciousness in what is in fact a tricky small space.

Two feature lights resembling giant cake tins hang from the ceiling over an ornately filled display of pastries, brownies and pies.

“The Sweet Infinity store’s material palette is an abstraction of the ingredients, both organic and decadent, which are reflected within the store’s colour scheme of  flour, raspberry, nougat and of course, chocolate,” said Carrigan.

Group GSA
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