Renovating a space for a gastronomic purpose can be one of the most interesting challenges for an architect, due to the freedom of design that tends to characterize these projects. It allows us to play with cladding materials, lighting, and furnishings to create unique spaces that are both attractive and functional for both the restaurant team and the diners.
We dived into our project library to select 5 restaurants that took advantage of their renovations and complexities to create distinctive spaces, presented by ICEX e Interiors from Spain.
Cocina Hermanos Torres Restaurant / OAB. Office of Architecture in Barcelona
Planned as a "kitchen with a restaurant", the space designed by OAB completely reformulates an old industrial warehouse of almost 800 m2. The restaurant becomes the kitchen, and the kitchen is not only located in the center of the space but also as its own envelope. "As the lines that physically separate the space have been diluted, the two Chefs, Sergio and Javier, together with second chefs, waiters, and assistant cooks, naturally and without barriers cross the space between stoves and tables," assure its architects.
In this way, the traditional materials of the kitchen, such as the luminaires, the shelves, and the ceramic floors, run through and surround the entire space, enhancing the experience of dining in The Hermanos Torres kitchen. The domestic appearance of the facade supports this general concept.
The design of this restaurant in the Plaza de Colón in Madrid takes over a space of 1000 m2. Looking to recall the colonial architecture of Havana, every detail in the interior becomes essential. Flooding the spaces that surround a central courtyard measuring 50 m2 and 8 meters high, "the selected materials seek warmth, with natural woods on floors and ceilings, patterned fabrics, abundant vegetation, soft colors, reflections, and very careful lighting."
The different areas of the restaurant pay special attention to their claddings. The bar area is outstanding and completely covered by ceramic tiles of different shades of green. The patio also includes black and white ceramic tiles and opens completely through perforated metal screens. As for the warmth of the restaurant, it is achieved through the use of wood on the floors and the presence of mainly white fabrics, ranging from the windows to the ceilings.
Arlette Restaurant / Baran Buro
With 600 m2, this project reformulates an old cinema in the city of Chervonograd, built in 1970. The new restaurant seeks to be a new positive point of attraction for its inhabitants, and so has used materials and products with a warm and distinctive appearance. The existing metal beams and concrete slabs have been left exposed, respecting the pre-existing industrial style.
According to its architects, "the materials used give visitors a feeling of comfort and make it interesting for both adults and children; with striking colors that combine with the gray of the concrete and the neutral color of the wood with bright accents, such as chairs, the bar and the floor tiles. Natural colors and textures were used in the wall decoration."
Mesón El Alamo Restaurant / v·om architecture & design
This is the remodeling and expansion of a small restaurant in La Mancha, Spain. Its exterior, sober and minimalist appearance, houses an equally elegant but distinctive interior, especially due to the treatment of light and the chosen claddings.
Thanks to the new materials that were incorporated, the restaurant recovers and maintains a domestic and family atmosphere: "The result is a more efficient space full of honest encounters between the vernacular and the new, with bar and restaurant areas separated by the toilets and kitchens. These volumes have been covered by a dark and polished porcelain piece, creating a contrast with the rest of the space, covered by a combination of ceramics that recall wood and burlap on floors and walls. "
Odiseo Gastronomic and Leisure Center / Clavel Arquitectos
Located in Murcia, Spain, within a large totem pole that can be surrounded by 360º, this restaurant is part of a leisure complex also composed of a casino, a nightclub, a bar, and a spectacular cantilevered pool. This is not a refurbishment as such, but it does present the complexities of a mixed-use building.
The design of the restaurant is based on the Mediterranean and Greek mythology, resorting to an "accumulation of textures (wood, gold and bronze, natural fibers, velvets, handmade ceramics...) that, amalgamated under extremely warm lighting, transmit different perceptions of the beauty of this concept." The tiles also extend into the pool area, in a marbled pattern in shades of gray and green.
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Check out more interesting restaurant interiors here.