Dyce dessert spot by FormRoom in London

This year, English creative agency FormRoom has been taking London by storm with highly Instagrammable dessert spots. A follow up to the Frame Awards 2020 submission Milk Train, Dyce Dessert Parlour is a sweetly surreal space that is described as a ‘conceptual take on dessert ingredients’ and inspired by the work of Salvador Dalí.

Where Milk Train’s modular interior could be easily adapted to Instagram trends, millennial-pink Dyce is all about dynamic elements that also work well on video sharing platforms like TikTok and Snapchat. TikTok – which markets itself as the ‘leading destination for short-form mobile video’ – was the most downloaded app in the US in 2018, and achieved one billion downloads globally earlier this year. As for Snapchat, users share 250 million Snaps every day using the app’s AR filters. Suffice to say: Instagram isn’t the only social media platform that deserves attention when it comes to creating sharable spaces.

According to a FormRoom spokesperson, it was ‘important to consider how the store could feel approachable to all ages, while catering to the different needs of social sharing demographics’. The seating, specifically, helps to achieve this welcoming atmosphere: pastel cocoon chairs that call to mind bubble tea ‘appeal to Instagram-driven millennials,’ while amphitheatre-style seating on the other side of the room – inspired by the look of dripping soft-serve ice cream – is suitable for families. Corrugated metal panels treated with iridescent vinyl create eye-catching surfaces and overhead, a ceiling installation crafted from concave and convex iridescent mirrors distorts the perspectives of visitors peering above.

But Dyce’s design isn’t solely intended to serve as digital eye-candy. It’s also a space for a bit of analogue fun and fantasy: ‘This is a place where people can escape the real world,’ says Dyce founder Zahra Khan, ‘and enjoy a moment of joy away from the everyday.’