In Barcelona, EL EQUIPO CREATIVE has completed an inspiring and highly contextual transformation of Hotel Plaza with a new lobby, bar, and restaurant concept that offers an exciting new gastronomic and cultural space open to the city.
Situated at the base of Montjuic Mountain, the city’s largest urban park, the designers have translated the natural beauty of the majestic landmark site into the interior concept. At the heart of the concept is a series of organically shaped, stepped platforms that navigate the change in level between the hotel restaurant and the rear restaurant. The playful shapes of the platforms are intended to evoke the feeling of ascending the nearby mountain and encourage guests to explore the space.
The platforms form undulating paths around the new circular bar, a prominent and formal focal point visible from the entrance. Connections to Montjuic Mountain are reinforced throughout with warm wooden ceilings that evoke treetops, garden-like plantings, and a natural colour palette complemented by vibrant, custom-crafted green ceramics adorned by the feature bar.
These 3d-ceramics find an echo in their application behind the hotel reception, which is also located at the entrance level. This application intends to establish through materials a link and a dialogue between the central bar counter and the more discretely located reception with a material that captures and expresses the freshness and greenery of Montjuic Park.
Venturing further into the project, a spacious upper level is bathed in natural Mediterranean light thanks to a translucent greenhouse-like roof. Beneath the spectacular roof is a garden-like environment with undulating pathways, curving benches, sinuous planters teeming with greenery, and even a small, elevated stage.
Throughout this carefully design orchestration of spaces, diverse areas and intimate corners are carefully crafted for different uses and types of seating as they may vary throughout the day. This thoughtful consideration allows Simultaneo Restaurant to respond to competing daily activities, from breakfast to evening cocktails, formal business meetings, and relaxed family gatherings.
Driven by a strong concept, the result of the renovation, like its context, is functional, spacious, versatile, green, and inspiring.
