Zsa Zsa
Location: Rua Stº. Ildefonso, 118/120, Porto, Portugal
Date: 2011
Gross Area: 225 m2
Briefing: Implanted in a building of architectural value dating from 1960 - according to the Charter of Assets of the Porto City Council - by the architect Pádua Ramos, the client’s intention was to adapt a decaying restaurant to a new gastronomic concept in the city: a Hungarian Restaurant.
Intervention: The intervention had to take into account the damages that occurred for more than 50 years, both in the building’s façades and on both floors of the establishment.
The preliminary program envisaged to host a Café and Bar on the ground floor and a Restaurant on the first floor.
Regarding the interiors, a "cleaning" operation of extraneous elements, which were added to the original project by the previous occupants, was carried out, respecting the structure of the spaces and using a warm colour and material palette and a careful light design so as to confer the indispensable comfort and the right atmosphere to the tasting of a pleasant Magyar meal and drink.
On the Café-Bar, a more relaxed ambiance was sought, accommodating customers at the counter, on tables and on sofas and emphasizing the night-time use by dimming the lights and accentuating the darker colours, adding a touch of Hungarian popular culture by filling the walls with old posters of coffee and drinks.
On the Restaurant a lighter setting but still maintaining the same kind of atmosphere, by using the same colours and materials and punctuating the spaces with pictures of famous Hungarian personalities and places.
