Who said that cantinas can’t be evocative places and a prime example of design? In this post, we’ve selected five projects housed in different types of spaces – office, hotel, coliving, student residence, and senior residence – that demonstrate a display of creativity:

 

Cantina at Swarovski’s offices

This proposal replaces the small offices that were located in each department to function as a small cafeteria within Swarovski’s offices in Barcelona. Here, you can have a coffee with colleagues, hold an informal meeting… This achieves the so-called “cross-pollination of ideas”, as detailed by Miquel Àngel Julià Hierro, Director of Strategy and Design at Grupidea. In this renovation, the combination of Fibracolour decorative boards, coloured throughout their mass in black, with natural wood and vinyls on floors was key.

 

Hotel cantina

REQUENA Y PLAZA leaves its mark on the cantina of this four-star hotel located in Las Palmas. Here, a contemporary charm unfolds with a strong emphasis on wood as a unifying element of the design. The high ceiling, supported by thin beams and complemented by large skylights, bathes the space in warm light that enhances the natural texture of the paneling lining the walls. The colour palette is soft, dominated by pastel blues and light wood tones, creating a relaxed atmosphere where contemporary armchairs in vibrant ethnic fabrics add a splash of colour.

 

Coliving cantina

In a coliving, flexibility dominates all rooms, making them suitable for mixed uses. Alfaro Manrique Atelier demonstrates this in Be Casa Rivas, where a slight change in arrangement offers an agora, a leisure room, or a cantina for a snack. Wood, again, is the element around which the design revolves to provide warmth to each of these configurations, noticeable in paneling and furniture.

 

Student residence cantina

The mix of decorative marble and gray finishes provides a jovial atmosphere to this cantina at the Liv Student 22@ Barcelona student residence. A large central island facilitates the social component so present in modern culinary spaces, both in food preparation and after enjoying it, in an environment suitable for extending the table talk.

 

Outdoor cantina of a senior residence

Here we find another cantina and multipurpose place thanks to the use of modular outdoor equipment that allows for different uses in this senior residence: from a pleasant afternoon snack to an activity or leisure area. What is clear is that rigid structures have become a thing of the past.