A red “cave” hides behind the main dining space of this wine and small plates bar in Madrid designed by interiors studio Plantea Estudio.
Located on the ground floor of a neoclassical building in Madrid’s buzzy Justicia neighbourhood, Plantea Estudio designed Gota to appear “dark, stony and secluded”.
Guests ring a bell to enter the 70-square-metre bar, and are then welcomed into a dining room enclosed by thickset granite ashlar walls. While some of the walls were left exposed, others have been smoothly plastered over and washed with grey lime paint.
The floor was overlaid with black volcanic stone tiles that the studio thought were suggestive of a “newly discovered terrain”.
A bench seat runs down the left-hand side of the bar, accompanied by lustrous aluminium tables and square birchwood stools from Danish design brand Frama.
Guests can alternatively perch on high stools at the peripheries of the room, where lies a slender stone ledge for drinks to be set down on.
More seating was created around a bespoke chestnut counter at the room’s centre; its surfacetop has an in-built turntable on which the Gota team plays a curated selection of music.
Behind the counter is a storage wall where wine bottles, vintage vinyl records and other music-related paraphernalia are displayed.
An open doorway takes guests down a short corridor to a secondary cave-like dining space, which boasts a dramatic vaulted ceiling and craggy brick walls. It has been almost entirely painted red.
“It’s relatively common to find this kind of vaulted brick space in the basements of old buildings in Madrid – this case was special because it’s on the ground floor with small openings to a garden,” the studio told Dezeen.
“It was perfect for a more quiet and private area of the bar,” it continued.
“The red colour is an abstract reference to the brick of which the cave is really made, and also a reference to wine.”
At the room’s heart is a huge 10-centimetre-thick granite table that’s meant to look as if it has “been there forever”, surrounded by aluminium chairs also from Frama. Smaller birch tables and chairs custom-designed by the studio have been tucked into the rooms corners.
To enhance the cosy, intimate feel of the bar, lighting has been kept to a minimum – there are a handful of candles, reclaimed sconces and an alabaster lamp by Spanish brand Santa & Cole.
Established in 2008, Plantea Estudio is responsible for a number of hospitality projects in Madrid.
Others include Hermosilla, a Mediterranean restaurant decked out in earthy tones, and Sala Equis, a multi-purpose entertainment space that occupies a former erotic cinema.
The photography is by Salva López.