Advertisement
Architecture and design
LifestyleArts & Culture

Transparent, blue and very Instagrammable, Hong Kong pop-up cake shop’s design earns international award

  • Lifetastic’s cake shop in Festival Walk scoops the top prize in the Pop-up category at the UK-based Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 2022
  • The work of Hong Kong-based Max Lam Designs and featuring 438 oil paintings of cakes, the store has been a magnet for selfie takers and Instagrammers

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A Lifetastic pop-up shop in Festival Walk, designed by Max Lam Designs, has won an award for its design, which features life-size oil paintings of the cakes it sells.
Jane Steer

You are not alone if the pop-up Lifetastic cake shop in Hong Kong’s Festival Walk shopping centre in Kowloon Tong has caught your eye recently.

Advertisement

The intriguing transparent blue box has scooped the top prize in the Pop-up category of the UK-based Restaurant & Bar Design Awards 2022, beating out competition in New York, London and Dubai.

It is the work of Hong Kong-based Max Lam Designs, which has been working with Lifetastic since 2018, when founder Max Lam designed its first store in Tsim Sha Tsui. For their fifth collaboration, Lifetastic gave the designer free rein – mostly.
“Our first store in Tsim Sha Tsui was inspired by the layers in the signature cakes,” Lam says. “There are new ideas in every location, so each project has its own identity and offers a different experience. But they all have some of the same elements: the brand’s royal blue and brass colours, layers, rounded elements.”
The pop-up shop is expected to remain in its current position for at least a year.
The pop-up shop is expected to remain in its current position for at least a year.

“This time, we had an open brief. It had to include separate counters for walk-in and online customers, a stand-up bar where people can eat the cakes, and a storage area for a refrigerator, packaging and lockers,” Lam says.

Advertisement
Advertisement