Spanish architecture studio Lucas y Hernández-Gill used powdery walls and pastel-hued fixtures to reflect the sweet treats on offer in this cafe in Madrid.

The Juana Limón coffee shop and bakery lies just outside of the capital's centre, a short distance from El Retiro park.

Formally a gift store, local practice Lucas y Hernández-Gill were approached to turn the retail space into a café that would "attract the attention of people in the street".

The client specified that the architect should also make the most of the shop's 50 square-metre floor plan, allowing room for a prep kitchen and customer seating.

For the shop's aesthetic the practice referenced the "world of bakeries and patisseries", taking particular interest in the hue of typical dessert ingredients like flour and butter.

This is reflected in the pale yellow tiles, which have been used to clad the display counter and cash register.

Floors have then been completed in whitewashed oakwood, to mimic the colour of bread dough

This shade extends onto the shop's walls, which have been coated with gypsum – a type of mineral often found in plaster or chalk.

"These colours contrast with the blue facade, which is like a shell protecting the fragile interior," the studio told Dezeen.

Storage is provided by white steel-frame shelves, in front of which are suspended six pendant lamps by Danish lighting manufacturer Louis Poulsen.

A selection of tan-coloured chairs and duck egg blue bench seats produced by the practice's own furnishings brand, Kresta Design, have also been added to the space.

Early last year Lucas y Hernández-Gill also revamped a 19th-century apartment nearby in Madrid, which featured all-white surfaces paired with bright artworks and patterned rugs.

Lucas y Hernández-Gill are among a handful of architects to create sugary-hued interiors for eateries – Melbourne-based practice Biasol used pastel green to create a Wes Anderson-themed cafe in China, while Studio Sur Rue applied pale pink to a hummus deli in Paris to echo the "joyful chaos" of the Tel Aviv dining scene.

Photography is by Jara Varela.