FX Awards 2018 Winners

Bar or Restaurant

Winner: Las Chicas, Los Chicos y Los Maniquís by El Equipo Creativo

Best Bar or Restaurant : Las Chicas, Los Chicos y Los Maniquís by El Equipo CreativoImage Credit: Adrià Goula

Sponsored by ArmourCoat

What was originally the entrance to the building for horse-drawn carriages is today the entrance to the hotel in Madrid and divides the most public part of the restaurant into two rooms. Both spaces are designed to the same concept: a carefree atmosphere with a distinctly colourful character, employing large graphic elements of colour with references to Spain’s post-Franco counter-culture – the Movida Madrileña – and the visual universe created by Pablo Almodovar, the Spanish film director.

The name of the restaurant is the title of a song that accompanied the Movida Madrileña and whose lyrics are still part of the Spain’s popular culture.

The main characters of this colourful universe are the two large red leather bars presiding over the two rooms. All morning they function as buffet tables for breakfast and as snack and beer bars –in the purest Madrid style – during the remainder of the day.

Another important element of the popular culture of Madrid is the classic neighbourhood stores with their large window advertisements, attractive names and incredible offers. Sashes, hats and elaborate mannequins fill some of the scarce shop windows still left in this part of the city, including in the restaurant’s own street. The design wanted to pay homage to them, filling the space with large, luminous commercial posters with commercial names.

In the lower part of the hotel, the restaurant has three small interconnected dining rooms where again colour is the principal element, each room achieves its own personality by use of a single color: red, a shade of green, and pink. The walls, covered in textiles as well as the chromatic choices, seek to reference the noble rooms of 19thcentury palatial homes.

The judges said:

‘Very cool, colourful and stylish’

Finalists & judges' comments

Rise Restaurant Refurbishment, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore by Aedas Interiors
‘Great integration of existing sculptures’

Queen Elizabeth Hall Cafe and Interval Bar by Archer Humphryes Architects
‘Sits very nicely against the brutalist architecture’

Rüya London by Conran and Partners
‘Holistic, elegant, mixing traditional and contemporary’

BIRCH restaurant by DA architecture bureau
‘Playful and warm at the same time’

Made in China Bar by DA architecture bureau
‘A great blend of warm and cool palettes and sensory materials’

RA Café, Lobby and Courtyard Bar at the Royal Academy of Arts, London by Lot & Transit Studio
‘Delightful and fun in a serious place’

Papillon by Minas Kosmidis [Architecture in Concept]
‘Wonderful palette of materials with exquisite ceramic tiles’

#24 Cathay Restaurant by Minggu Design
‘Refined and beautiful detailing’

Nobu Downtown by Rockwell Group
‘Great sense of drama accentuation’

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