Armando

Javier Bravo

• Architects

Armando is opening its first restaurant in Madrid with an interior design by Trenchs Studio. The brand, part of the La Ancha group, was launched in 2020 as a food delivery service with a very distinct visual identity, and that visual universe—with blue and yellow as its signature colors—served as the starting point for the project. The studio’s challenge was to translate that conceptual and chromatic language into a 107 m² physical space in a way that remained true to the brand’s essence.

The entire project revolves around the figure of Armando, the character after whom the restaurant is named. According to the group, Armando was a cheerful Argentine gentleman with a hearty appetite who, in the 1970s, walked into the restaurant and ordered the largest empanada they could serve him; that dish would eventually bear his name. Trenchs Studio embraces this founding story and translates it into the space by reviving design elements characteristic of that decade: Graven-style latticework, steel, and a nod to voluptuous forms—in the style of a Botero figure—that bridge the past and present through the studio’s contemporary perspective.

photo_credit Javier Bravo — Javier Bravo

The design strikes a balance between the traditional and the contemporary. Materials reminiscent of Madrid’s traditional bars coexist with a more modern aesthetic and robust elements, in keeping with the restaurant’s logo and its invitation to enjoy good food. The combination of stainless steel and wood paneling evokes classic bars while providing functionality and warmth, and the wooden and reinforced glass latticework adds rhythm and depth to the dining room.
The blue flooring, with its striking color, serves as the foundation of the space, infusing it with energy and personality. Set against this backdrop, a long yellow bench becomes the project’s defining feature: a continuous piece that articulates the space, structures the customer’s experience, and gives the venue a clear and immediately recognizable identity. The lighting and details complement this balance and reinforce a vibrant yet welcoming atmosphere, in which each element contributes without overpowering the whole.

The result is a space with character that connects with the time-honored local heritage from a new perspective. More than just a restaurant, Armando is a statement of intent: to recover what is essential, reinterpret it, and project it into the present. A place where tradition and modernity coexist naturally to offer an experience that is intimate, familiar, and, at the same time, refreshed.