Login
Registered users
Combining contemporary accents with elements typical of Spanish architecture, Simultaneo is a new café and restaurant in Barcelona’s Hotel Plaza. Set at the foot of Montjuïc, it’s much more than just a classic place to enjoy fine food. El Equipo Creativo designed Simultaneo as a key attraction for the whole city, offering tourists and locals a sanctuary at any time of the day for relaxation, work, or enjoyment. The interior design project involved the entire street level of the building, with the creation of a bar, restaurant, and lobby.
Simultaneo is a colorful, vibrant spatial continuum, punctuated by surfaces with luxuriant plants that recall the lush Mediterranean landscape. The neutral tones of the materials, especially the timber, create a link to nearby Montjuïc, the promontory that dominates the entire city and forms its green lung.
Simultaneo is located at the foot of the majestic Montjuïc, the largest urban park in Barcelona. For this reason, it was ideal that its design should dialogue with the natural beauty of its setting. To achieve this, the designers took advantage of the existing slope between the entrance and the back of the space, creating a series of tiered platforms with flowing organic shapes. Evoking a sensation of travel, these surfaces invite guests to explore the space.
The hub of these different routes is the bar area, designed as a circle to highlight the visibility of the nearby Plaza de España and invite people to step inside. The colors and materials chosen recreate the atmosphere of a garden, with the warm timber ceilings recalling treetops. Based around natural and neutral shades, the palette selected for Simultaneo is enlivened by the bright green ceramic used for the bar counter. The same fresh effect given by this splash of green is repeated on the wall behind the hotel’s reception counter, which is finished with ceramic tiles handcrafted especially for the project.
>>> Discover also Scatto Restaurant in Turin, Italy, designed by lamatilde
Located on the upper level, the restaurant dining room is a large area flooded with natural light thanks to its ceiling designed along the lines of a greenhouse. The abundance of natural light produces an interplay of shifting shades, creating changing moods in the restaurant throughout the day.
The space was designed as a genuine garden, with large curving planters acting as benches. The furnishing elements are arranged to create areas for socializing as well as others for more intimate occasions. The aim was to satisfy the different needs of diners, from breakfast to evening cocktails, work meetings, family get-togethers, and even concerts, making the restaurant a magical place open to the whole city of Barcelona.
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Completion: 2023
Client: Hotel Catalonia Barcelona Plaza
Interior Design: El Equipo Creativo
Consultants
Lighting: MMaslighing
Ceramics: Marazzi
Photography by Adrià Goula, courtesy of El Equipo Creativo
