The project for the new SALT restaurant presented a significant complexity due to the management of a space within the W Barcelona hotel. This space had to be adapted to three uses with very different needs: as a restaurant, a breakfast room for hotel guests and for events. These uses are very different from each other, so we decided to take advantage of the furniture for each of the moments of the day and to select emblematic fixed elements common to all three.
Another important point was the integration and visibility of the restaurant from the beach promenade. To make the interior space more visible, we raised the floor, allowing the diners inside to see the sea above the people on the terrace. The design of the window frames of the premises is glazed and folding, thus connecting both spaces.
The indoor/outdoor connection was essential, so we worked on the two spaces as if they were one. The pergola we placed on the terrace to protect from the sun, made with a wooden structure and natural fibres from Pont de Querós, extends inwards to strengthen this relationship.
The whole of the restaurant’s box is worked as a global envelope in a sandy colour, mimicking the premises with the nature of the place, the Barceloneta beach. The floor, which refers to the sand of the sea, is created with a micro-mortar floor, while the continuous micro-terrazzo carpets zone the groups of tables and add weight to the whole. The acoustic ceiling, with a marked texture, has a perimeter curtain and sores where the installations are unified. The aesthetic breathes naturalness, light and warmth, blending in with the beach. The curvilinear front wall acts as a backdrop to the space, where we have integrated in the same tone pieces of handmade clay placed vertically, leaving different spaces between them to leave a rhythmic grout of lime mortar.
To zone the spaces, we used fixed elements such as the bars, with organic shapes that seem to emerge from the continuous pavement and articulate all the spaces, connecting them visually without interrupting the view. We combined the back of the perimeter benches made of the same material as the floor, with modular wooden seats, mobile planters and mobile furniture elements made of solid iroko wood or vitrified tiles, which serve as a support for the breakfasts. All this makes it possible to distribute the buffet in a more pleasant and non-centralised way, separating sweet and savoury, cold meats, juices and coffees, and helping to create a route that enhances the use of all the spaces.
These elements are transformed into communal tables or furniture for support during lunches and dinners.
All the materials are natural; the furniture is made of natural stone and wood, complemented by textiles in different colours and patterns, together with lush Mediterranean vegetation.
The spectacular spot lighting above the tables is complemented by lamps and a set of handmade terracotta pieces from Mallorca on the staircase wall. The most important and material element has been designed over the two bars, making reference to the desert rose. For this, the artist Ramón de los Heros has collaborated with the artist, who has created a material from scratch to create the sheets, achieving a texture very similar to the original stone.
