Bite-Size Design
Blue Wave Cocktail Bar by El Equipo Creativo
Barcelona
Tall synthetic-leather stools slide under the hanging marble bar.
Photo © Adria Goula
Using the same materials on floors, walls, and the ceiling lends a feeling of being inside a wave.
Photo © Adria Goula
The existing white ceramic screen filters the afternoon sunlight and recalls the bubbles and foam of crashing water.
Photo © Adria Goula
An outside deck faces the marina.
Photo © Adria Goula
An outside deck puts visitors in the midst of the marina, with just a glass half-wall separating the seating area from the water.
Photo © Adria Goula
Architects & Firms
Clad in tile, mirrors, and glass, this high-end lounge gleams as much as the water it fronts. Local firm El Equipo Creativo designed the 2,000-square-foot lounge for the new members-only OneOcean Club at the Port Vell Marina.
The design studio, which specializes in commercial and hospitality projects, took cues from the city and setting: extensive bespoke tiling in fish-scale patterns recalls the mosaics of Antoni Gaudí, while other reflective surfaces–smoky black mirrors, copper-colored sheet metal, and ceramic—cast light and shadows in all directions like the undulating surface of the Mediterranean. “The interior is conceived as a wave, which creates an embracing tube before breaking,” says designer Natli Canas del Pozo. “It’s a dynamic space filled with reflections and shadows.”
The club’s existing perforated concrete facade (designed by Spanish studio SCOB) filters afternoon sunlight into the west-facing bar area, where suspended rectangular panels—clad in the ceramic tiles and imitation marble in bright white and Danube blue—form the ceiling.
The narrow marble bar—where cocktails like the Zacapa Breakfast, with rum, orange marmalade, and triple sec are served—also hangs from the ceiling and serves as a table. The custom tiles were glazed in seven shades of blue to match the hues of ocean water, from wave to foam, and only a glass partition separates visitors lounging on the outdoor terrace from the real thing.
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