The premises chosen for the new restaurant, a large space of two floors, were empty after a structural renovation which left behind some differences in level on the access floor that determined a series of constructive and structural decisions, especially the location of the stairs, which had to be considered. There were many subdivisions due to the system of load bearing walls that formed the basic structure of the 19th century building in which these premises are located.The different spaces succeed one other starting from the entrance, so allowing the restaurant to be pleasantly organized in consecutive dining areas, avoiding an excessively crowded atmosphere. 

Only three materials, all natural and modest, are used. The vertical surfaces are clad in the same brick blocks that are normally used to build the partition walls in modest houses. These blocks, always plastered and concealed, show if unveiled a texture that acquires an important value through the repetition and reflection of light. The spaces between load bearing walls are shaped with black varnished sheets, stressing the transition that the thickness of these constructions, increased by the superposition of brick, entails. The same sheet is used to refurbish the main staircase, which, even when kept in the same position, undergoes specific alterations that aim to simplify it and enhance its volumetric character within the underground space, of greater floor-to-ceiling height. A black ceramic pavement, with a slightly rough texture, partially covers one height of the walls, offering, along with the ceiling, a neutral frame in which the illumination may be enhanced.To achieve the desired light and acoustic effects, the ceiling breaks into a series of creases. The light placed behind the brick surface of the walls, in the upper and lower level - both lines reflected over the cracked black surface of the ceiling and the floor - give the whole an appearance of lightness, as a sort of layered canvas, without concealing the constructive operation carried out with the brick. The rest of the illumination in the restaurant tries to maintain the desired mysterious effect as much as possible, taking the form of standard lamps that intensify the light over the tables without interfering with the overall illumination.

The Café del Baluarte project, aside from aiming to accomplish an architectural design of great formal quality, stems from a careful analysis of the urban space of the square and its buildings, the Baluarte itself and the Parliament of Navarre.It was neither possible nor advisable to design an opaque, closed building. This would have entailed dividing the public space into differentiated parts, leaving the Parliament building, visually and de facto, out of the complex.The choice of a glass box, very abstract, ensures transparency along the entire perimeter so that, from the interior, users have the sensation of being outside, protected from the weather yet able to enjoy the spatical depth of the square and the views of the surrounding architectures. The same transparency, during the summer, is transformed into openness by moving the glass surfaces horizontally, thus creating an actual continuity between the exterior and interior spaces. The whole buildings becomes a terrace, the building itself is public space.

The project tries to figure out ways of combining traditional winery typologies with new winemaking techniques and the architectural process that allows for reinventions of the spaces associated with the tradition. The proposal also stems from a reinterpretation of the existing landscape, and from the idea of manipulating architecture so that a new scenario is created where nature and architecture can engage in a fruitful dialogue.

Considered as a whole complex and in its natural surroundings, the Barony of Escriche has a value that exceeds the linear sum of its architectural and artistic elements. It is a welcome surprise to find in this environment an architectural and economic complex that explains the socio-cultural evolution and territorial organization of the zone. Our proposal for the building is determined by the following basic objectives:On one hand, the project emphasizes the major cultural and artistic meanings implicit in the place while maximizing respect for the natural and environmental attributes of the surrounding physical context. The Casa Grande complex is to be integrated into a hotel project. Intervention on the existing building is complemented by the construction of a new volume at the rear that will allow redeveloping this part of the complex through additional access spaces and expanded areas for a program that is possible in economic terms.The ground floors of the Casa Grande and the new building are mainly areas for reception and actual hall and restaurant uses. The new building, put behind the Casa Grande so as not to affect its front views, faces almost only southward and toward the valley, laying out rooms along a broken facade that makes such an organization and orientation possible.