A sloping wall clad in slim white tiles hides the formerly problematic facade of this minimal patisserie in Hangzhou, China, which has been designed by Say Architects.
Located in the city's Xiasha district, the 150-square-metre Angelot patisserie occupies an awkward site with an entrance set back from the street.
One third of the storefront was previously blocked by a ventilation shaft, and the interior also had an unpleasant view of the building's rear.
"Instead of simply hiding all these disadvantages, we tried to use and connect them with a simple concept ? a gradually disclosed sense of ritual," explained Say Architects.

Working around the ventilation shaft, the Chinese studio inserted a curved wall clad in custom white tiles that leads visitors from the street around a corner to the entrance on the left. The slim, rectangular tiles are lined with black grout, creating a grid on the patisserie's facade.
Two small, marble-lined display windows in the curved wall  ? which the practice liken to "frames" ? showcase singular cakes, enticing passersby to take a closer look.

Inside, the practice wanted to create an intimate and soft space.
"The main tone of the brand Angelot is actually orange, which is intense and fast," the practice's co-founder Yan Zhang told Dezeen.
"We think patisserie should be more soft and gentle, so we selected this neutral-minimal style and applied orange in other ways, like the small orange stones integrated in ...