lázaro simulates misty greenhouse environment in mexican restaurant

mexican architecture firm lázaro simulated a greenhouse environment in a thai cuisine restaurant located in guadalajara, mexico. located of the ground floor of an apartment building near the city’s financial district, the restaurant features a bar at its center, with seemingly condensed moist glass box encasing living nature, exuding an eerie and tropical atmosphere.

all images jorge gonzález yáñez

the designers organized the restaurant around the central bar, surrounded by tables with a capacity of 135 people. both the central bar and the walls have a floor-to-ceiling structure built of steel angles that support textured glass curtains. in the lower part of the structure there are planters with tropical vegetation that, together with the frosted glass, generate an appearance of mist.

lázaro’s intention was to create a greenhouse sensation inside the locale, surrounding people with diffused silhouettes of plants blurred through the translucent glass. since the site only has one of its façades open to the building’s public areas, the entire metallic structure that surrounds the project has artificial lighting that changes the restaurant’s interiors constantly due to the changing light temperature. varying from daytime to nighttime light, the mood inside the space changes throughout the day.

the project is organized in three main areas: kitchen and services at the back, bar and diners area at the center and a terrace that generates a dialogue with the exterior towards the front. in addition to steel, textured glass and vegetation, the project uses more earthy and raw materials. the rough concrete bar, with different tones, matches the porosity of the volcanic stone floor that is placed both inside and outside the restaurant. the furniture sees a similar palette: metal chairs and tables share the neutral color and raw textures of the rest of the place, creating a cohesive mixture of materials.

project info:

architecture firm: lázaro

projet name: atomic

project type: hospitality – thai restaurant

location: guadalajara, mexico

design team: nicolás sainz, óscar maciel, pedro assam, jorge gonzález

lighting design: lsbastudio (luca salas, diana cisneros)

landscape design: petunia landscaping (martha orozco)

contractor: jdl construcciones (jorge díaz de león)

technical drawings: workstudio (carlos domínguez, erich magallán, juan reyes, zulkerine cázares)

photos: jorge gonzález yáñez