A new architectural and gastronomic experience in Alkimia by Carmelo Zappulla

Description of project by External Reference Architects

Design Brief.- The restaurant is located in the city center of Barcelona, on the main floor of a modernist building (dating back to 1864) left unoccupied for 40 years. The project design has been carried out taking into consideration two elements: the pre-existing architectural context (including its old patina and typology) and the specific gastronomic offer of the Michelin-starred restaurant Alkimia (which is 80% based on fish).

Design Challenges.- The project has essentially aimed at.-

1. establishing a meaningful relationship between the architectural context and the new design
2. safeguarding the existing architectural context 
3. generating a sensory path where customers are wrapped by flavours, fragrances, and all sorts of perceptions which are an essential part of the ‘Alkimia experience’
4. matching the project requests with the quality of the existing context: for instance, designing 2 dining spaces (Alkimia and Alkimia Un-plugged) separated by a flexible partition.

Design Results.- The restaurant Alkimia has been conceived of as a continuous scenography fostering a seamless sensory experience. The different parts of this scenography feature sea life-inspired skins, art installations and custom-made furniture which establish a unique relationship with the surrounding space. Nothing is forever, everything is custom-made.

In order to preserve the existing architecture, neither structural interventions nor permanent transformation of the context have been proposed. Even the old patina on the walls has been kept. Overall, the project is based on a dialogue between digital fabrication and craftsmanship.

ALKIMIA APPARATUS

Alchimia lab. Reception.- The center, a matrix of “cooking ideas” symbolizing the entire neural system, the installation of glass vials embodies the alchemy name. The laboratory of experimentation create, as an inventory of Jordi Vilà Chef 's inspirations.

FISH SPINE 

Flowing through the hallway to the unplugged bar and the dining room, large wooden spines form the restaurant’s backbone, directing, separating and leading. 

APNEA

Milling panels/floor.- The Alkimia dining experience is like standing in the middle of a school of fish, frozen in time wrapped around the dining room. Three-dimensional plywood milled panels clad the walls, displaying the imprint of schools of fish. The floor is similar, perforations offering a glimpse of the pre-existing floor and encapsulated by cm of transparent resin. 

Hanging Vertebrae. Cloakroom.- The morphology comes from the study of fish vertebrae; the serialisation of flat vertebrae, realised in valchromat produces gaps for storing clothing. 

Aura-chair.- Designed as an aluminum skeletal structure on which to sit, the unplugged chairs are covered with a black micro-perforated skin. 

T-Porphyra Organ.- Gallery Metal T elements cover the gallery walls, storing cutlery but also exposing pre -existing plaster walls. 

Flavor-in-phials. Installation j bar.- Conservatives are encapsulated to become showcased objects and protagonists of the selection within cooking implemented in the unplugged space.

The whale jaw. Unplugged bar.- An aluminum whale jaw is the protagonist of the unplugged space, creating a stage for the food to be prepared.

Kaleido scales. Bath mirrors.- The mirror scales surfaces fragment the user’s reflection, to create a multifaceted and dynamic space.

WEAVING MARBLE 

Sinks.- Inspired by traditional tanks for cod, these are marble sinks are wrapped in a marble milled surface. 

LEATHER WAVE

Sofa.- A unique form that blends and splits in similar way to the tail fin of a fish. Wrapping around the wall occupying the unplugged space.

UNP-STOOL

Stool.- A natural evolution of the CHAIR, this aluminum skeletal structure is matched with the gallery’s tables.

STONE ON LEGS 

Un-plugged Table.- Modular and solid, eroded pebble oak table tops are mounted on cast aluminum legs, can be assembled into many combinations.

TWISTING

Restaurant Table.- Made entirely of steel, mounting a central threaded bar which varies the height depending on situation (catering and formal). The Valchromat bearing surfaces creates flexibility and varying combinations of tables, seating two, four and six people.

FLOATING TRAY 

Gallery Table.- Following the rhythm of the window frame, leather coated steel shelves cling to the columns, optimizing the space within the gallery.

ANEMONE 

Wineroom.- Suspended in a dense steel structure, wine bottles find a place of refuge, like fish in sheltering an anemone.