The project consisted in creating a high-end cocktail bar through the intervention of a basement in an inconspicuous building at Colonia Juarez, Mexico City.
A downward stairway brings you to the front door. Upon entrance, dimmed lighting creates a different atmosphere from that of the outdoors, helping the user to quickly forget the almost generic appearance of the building’s facade.
Once inside, the user is received by a wooden display cabinet filled with carefully selected plants and objects curated with the shamanic concept of the bar. Functioning as a first visual barrier, this cabinet also creates a hallway that leads the bar –a monolithic and stony structure that becomes one of main elements throughout the space. This landmark bar is complemented with a perforated wooden soffit through which light is filtered, illuminating a mural that covers the whole length of the wall and creates a nebulous landscape.
The concrete structure marked the way in terms of material selection; as was the case with this structure, every material was allowed to “talk” by itself through its textures and tonalities, without the use of any coating or layering.
Space modulation was also created parting from the pre-existing reticular structure: discovering it and ensuring its presence was a fundamental part of the project. In the same logic, the space can be modulated and sub-divided based on specific user needs with the use of drapes that run on all the structural reticule. This element also creates a dynamic of transparencies and differences in lighting that help generate a warm and cozy ambiance.
Following the user’s journey we find different adjoining spaces: two small private lounges and a secondary room for small groups in which graphical interventions, materials and textures create interesting nuances in the overall experience. A last pathway reveals a staircase that leads to the services and to an open patio that brings contact with the exterior back to the user.
