The new restaurant in Madrid, from Grupo Tragaluz, originates from the premise of creating a versatile space, functioning from breakfast to after dinner drinks, and inviting people from all ages to enter. Sandra Tarruella’s team was in charge to give form to this commission. The aesthetic interpretation of domestic furniture from the 1950’S and the mixture of warm materials such as wood and textiles give a warm and comfortable atmosphere to the place, while trying to escape formalisms to create a youthful space where the light and smooth tones play a special role.
The premises located on Paseo de la Castellana 35 open onto the outside garden through large hinged iron and glass doors, but the entrance is by a lateral volume to the building and through this garden. This volume is enhanced with a large wooden access door to the lobby of the new restaurant. The bar is the heart of the place, organizing all the atmospheres and levels around it. This element consists of a set of planes of different intertwining materials to break the volume’s heaviness and monotony.
The restaurant is organized into two levels to create different atmospheres and always allow the visuals to the front garden. These are also differentiated by the utilization of different flooring such as continuous cement and carpet. The kitchen, in the back of the premises, becomes a light box facing the dining room, screened by vertical wooden slats. On the side walls of the room, the polished concrete floor rises up to form built-in sofas which, with many colourful cushions, create small rooms that provide some privacy to guests. Alongside with colour, the variation of different pieces of furniture also helps to provide an informal character to the place.
Between the bar and the kitchen, at the highest area of the restaurant, tables and small sofas and dividing screens articulate the space creating the appearance of small dining rooms. In this same area, where the ceiling is lower, the use of a reflective tensioned material to cover the ceiling brings out the feeling of height and duplicates the vertical slats and the kitchen, thus giving it centre stage. The remainder of the dining room has a felt-like acoustic ceiling which confers a cosy appearance and provides acoustic comfort to the space.
