TwentyOne06 Crafts A Sensory Space For Flaky Pastry’s Abu Dhabi Debut

TwentyOne06 brings Flaky Pastry’s brand to life through form, material, and sensory detail

For the third location of Flaky Pastry Croissant Company, and its first outside of Dubai, UAE-based design studio TwentyOne06 has crafted more than just an interior, it is a sensorial narrative built around the artisanal journey of croissants. Located at The Galleria Al Maryah Island, this 159 sqm space offers a refined, spatial expression of Flaky Pastry’s brand DNA: gourmet laminated doughs, bold visuals, and a passion for craft.

Best known for their narrative-first hospitality design, TwentyOne06 approached this project with a simple premise: the croissant becomes the architecture.

“We wanted to tell the story of the croissant, from flour to flake, through form, texture, and experience,” says interior designer Sabiha Yusuf. “Rather than design a theme, we designed a journey that customers can feel, touch, and see unfold around them.”

A Design Concept Layered Like a Pastry

At the heart of the concept is a deep dive into the anatomy and process of croissant-making.

Every material and gesture in space responds to one of five key moments in that process:

• Pastry Flour: The starting point, raw, refined, and essential, is captured in the stone-effect counter fascia, whose powdery texture reflects flour’s organic finish.
• Rolled Dough Triangles: The elongated triangular cuts of laminated dough inspired the textured linear walls and fluted finishes throughout.
• Crescent Shapes: The iconic shape of baked croissants informed the venue’s curved wooden bench, volumetric wall textures, and the organic forms of custom furniture.
• Interior Flake Structure: The airy, layered interior of a croissant finds its expression overhead in a layered fabric ceiling installation, using gradient materials that shift from clear to warm orange hues, echoing both croissant coloration and Flaky’s signature brand palette.
• Pastry Flakes: This delicate, finishing touch is embedded into the terrazzo table tops and tiled floors, speckled to resemble scattered flakes.

“It wasn’t about mimicry, it was about designing through translation,” explains Yusuf. “We considered how each phase of the pastry process could inform atmosphere and material decisions. It is a space that builds on the brand’s identity with spatial depth.”

A Stage for the Craft of Pastry

Flaky Pastry’s ethos centers around celebrating artisanal pastry-making, and the layout reinforces this focus. From outside the store, customers are drawn in through a clear view of the pastry counter and the chef at work, framed by a curved glazed façade with frosted gradient glass that mimics the warming tones of a croissant in the oven.

The signature Flaky Orange 3D signage above the counter glows against a neutral backdrop, visually anchoring the brand. Behind the counter, hidden lighting reveals a wall-mounted menu, while hanging graphics bring a touch of playful personality, drawing from the brand’s tagline: “Music to your mouth.”

“We designed an experience,” says Yusuf. “From the scent of baking croissants outside, to the sound and visuals inside, everything is calibrated to immerse you.”

The pastry display counter, clad in a soft stone texture with integrated shelving, extends into a curved glass enclosure, inviting customers to observe the products up close while incorporating low-level retail displays that let merchandise shine without disrupting sightlines.

Zoned for Experience, Not Just Seating

The seating strategy avoids cramming for capacity. Instead, zones were placed with deliberate variation, giving each guest a unique vantage point into the world of pastry-making:

• Curved leather booths with upholstered backrests provide intimacy without isolation.
• Fluted table legs and benches echo the layered lines of laminated dough.
• Soft-toned finishes in Flaky Cream and Flaky Blue balance the vibrancy of the orange, providing a warm, cohesive visual palette.

No seating feels incidental or secondary, each one is a front-row seat to the brand’s culinary theatre.

Materiality with Meaning

The layered narrative is supported by thoughtful material selection:

• Copper accents and textured copper paint reference traditional baking tools.
• Fluted cream-finished walls carry both light and shadow in the space, adding movement to still surfaces.
• Frosted gradient glass, stone textures, and terrazzo-effect floors reinforce the duality of delicacy and grounding.
• Even artwork placement adds moments of visual whimsy, playing with the intersection of sound, indulgence, and rhythm.

Retail shelving is designed to feel integrated, not added on. Fluted niches, open shelves, and low-profile central tables are backdropped by neutral finishes, allowing colorful croissant boxes and merchandise to serve as visual highlights.

A Regionally Grounded Brand

As the first dedicated croissanterie in Dubai, Flaky Pastry is carving a niche in the UAE’s increasingly sophisticated F&B landscape. With a bold visual identity and a product rooted in traditional technique, it straddles both innovation and familiarity. For TwentyOne06, this project exemplifies their commitment to designing for the region’s next generation of culinary entrepreneurs, those who understand the value of space as a storytelling tool.

“Every inch of this space is intentional,” Yusuf notes. “It’s built not just for function or footfall, but for memory, so that the experience of eating a croissant becomes something you remember long after you’ve left.”