Asado Brasil

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Centro Cultural San Carlos - Studio Roca + ROW Studio

Asado Brasil

Firm

ROW Studio

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Restaurant

SIZE

25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft

A Rodizio style
Brazilian restaurant usually refers to a kind of service where clients are
offered Churrasco (Brazilian and Portuguese barbecue) meat cuts by waiters who
are flowing continuously trough the restaurant tables where costumers are
charged with a fixed price.

For the proposal
for the refurbishment of an existing Brazilian Rodizio restaurant in a suburban
shopping center in Merida, the capital of the southeast state of Yucatan in
Mexico, called Asado Brasil, we designed an open plan that would allow the free
flow of service between tables and the configuration of several layouts
depending on the varying needs of the costumers. The space revolves around a
central self service buffet bar where people can get side dishes and salads to
compliment their meat. The second level would serve as additional serving space
during peak hours or could be rented as a private room for events. This new
section along with the proposal for a surrounding terrace duplicated the
service area for the existing restaurant taking full advantage of the great
height of the locale.

The whole
perimeter of the locale was bordered by a sinuous continuous concrete wall with
short wood vertical partitions with bright colors on their edge. This colors
where arranged in a color spectrum along the curved wall creating a dynamic
effect with a hint of modern Brazilian architecture undertones.

A concrete
screen separates the interior from a glass wall giving additional privacy to
the restaurant from one of the city’s main highways and at the same time
protects the interior from the sunlight and the incredibly hot temperatures of
the region. In combination with a shell canopy covering the outdoor terrace it
allowed the locale to be cooled with cross ventilation lowering energy
consumption on full operation hours.

The outdoor shell
was solved with a metallic structure that trough parametric modulation could be
covered with the same triangular pieces used for the cement tiles of the
interior’s floor. Instead of having the tiles on the floor, the interior
surface of the shells would be cover with the same hexagonal changing Brazilian
motifs that would be reflected on the mirrored dining surface of the tables.

Cement tiles are
a traditional element of Merida’s 19th century architecture and a
local industry ever since. We developed a custom made adaptation for
manufacture machinery, molds and processes to have a triangular module which
had never been used before and was not available with any manufacturer. The
triangular tiles where designed along with local designer Christian Pacheco who
devised a 7 pieces system based on the tangram that can be rearranged to
generate different motifs. These images would be based on iconic elements of
Brazilian culture ranging from football and landscapes to architecture or
animals. The intention was to create elements that would be easy to approach
and remember making every visit subtly different.

A very flexible
selection of furniture by Mexican and international designers complemented the
aesthetics of the permanent elements.