The architecture firm led by José Selgas and Lucía Cano, in collaboration with the designer Andreu Carulla, has transformed an industrial space built in the early 1950s into a restaurant. The building previously harbored a repairs garage and the bar named Garaje Hermético, an icon of Madrid nightlife. The refurbished construction preserves the simplicity and beauty of the roof structure of thin concrete trusses and steel cables.

The restaurant thus had to be climatized from under the continuous benches, which themselves form the ceramic pipes, letting air exit through irregular openings beneath the diners. The more than 1,000 ceramic pieces crafted and molded by extrusion contains a natural heating and cooling system that thermally channels air coming from outside.

The project’s impact on the environment was much and constantly kept in mind. All efforts were made to control the origin of every material, reuse as much as possible, and eliminate toxic elements (such as polyurethane foam, rockwool, acrylic paints and varnishes, silicone putties…). Acoustic comfort was achieved through Geopannel panels made of recycled and pressed wool. A system for reusing water was also incorporated. The restaurant is almost 100% self-sufficient energy-wise.