Architecture practices SOLAR and Marta Jarabo have designed an ice cream shop with intense blue-colored interior in the historic center of Madrid, Spain.

Named Brando, the 102-square-metre shop translates the historical layers of the building with intense blue color, which makes the inside look exactly like an ice cream shop. 

The different colors of the ice creams and the circular luminaire made of stretched fabric on the wall keep the interior alive and make the colors pop up. 

"The shop investigates the relationship between visual perception and the phenomenology of color with the aim of developing a new commercial model where consumption is understood as an atmospheric experience," said SOLAR in its project description.

According to the architects, the project shares three fundamental premises: a reduced budget, the development of a recognizable image and a limited execution time.

Based on initial parameters, the team aimed to create an artificial landscape where the perception of scale is blurred through the use of color. 

"This strategy responds to an economy of means as an ecological manifesto, avoiding demolitions to minimize the generation of waste while allowing the space to be unified and the different historical layers to be visible," added the office.

The interior is drawn on a flexible floor plan and the program is organized into two parallel bands separated by a piece covered with projected polyurethane foam that meets the needs of the program. These two parallel bands act as a counter, bar and worktop, which provide the residual space with maximum flexibility. 

A circular luminaire, made of stretched fabric, becomes as the central element of the space by providing a focus of attention from the outside. 

"In addition, thanks to the color variation throughout the day, this piece provides the premises with multiple physical and sensory qualities," the studio added.

Axonometric drawing 

Axonometric colored drawing

Project facts

Project name: BRANDO

Architecture offices: SOLAR + Marta Jarabo

Construction: 2022

Surface (m²): 102 m²

Location: Madrid

Program: Ice Cream Shop

All images © Imagen Subliminal (Miguel de Guzmán + Rocío Romero)

All drawings © SOLAR + Marta Jarabo

> via SOLAR 

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