LA MADRILEÑA | med.arquitectos

The starting point focused on how to work with such a narrow, deep space with little natural light. Despite having to acoustically insulate all the interior walls, the free interior height of the premises allowed us to make the ceiling the guiding thread of the entire project. The proposal is articulated around the reinterpretation of a small Christian chapel, a nod to the architectural forms that evoke seclusion and unity. The key to the design was the introduction of a backlit longitudinal vault that crosses the entire bar, generating a sensation of continuity and amplitude in this reduced space. This vault acts as an element that visually organises the premises, directing the gaze towards the different points of interest: the ceiling, the bar, and the back wall as a metaphor for the decorated apse.

The reference to a small and modest chapel is evident, we change the priest for the cook and the baptismal font for a marble washbasin, but we maintain the essence of any religious space of trying to make visitors feel emotions. Although the incorporation of the vault may seem like a simple idea, its purpose is very ambitious: to make customers feel, at least for an instant, overwhelmed when they enter for the first time and, without having to wait for the first tapa, they already have enough reasons to want to come back. Something similar to what happens to any agnostic who, on crossing the doors of a Gothic cathedral, is absorbed by the grandeur and verticality of its naves, even forgetting the reason for their visit. In short, it is a tribute to the capacity of space to move and connect with people.