Downtown Restaurant

Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK

Downtown Restaurant

Iván Quizhpe Arquitectos

LEAD ARCHITECT
Iván Andrés Quizhpe

CONSTRUCTION
Iván Quizhpe Arquitectos

MANUFACTURERS
Fairis

PHOTOGRAPHS
Bicubik

AREA
1291 Ft²

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Cuenca, Ecuador

CATEGORY
Restaurant

Text description provided by architect.

In the Historic Center of Cuenca, within the Todos Santos neighborhood, characterized by its main use of bakeries and traditional wood-fired ovens, this project is developed that encourages a similar use.

Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK
Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK

The design employs essential principles of the architecture of the past in contemporary language, not only through typology and materiality, but also through formal austerity.

The property had a small structure of patrimonial interest, categorized with environmental value, located facing Mariano Cueva street.

The pre-existence was defined by a gabled tile roof that rested on three adobe walls: the façade and the sides.

Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK
Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK

Through the use of traditional construction techniques, these elements were rehabilitated and incorporated into the proposal.

The project, based on the house-patio typology, configures the environments around a clean central patio that ventilates and fills the interior with light.

The construction presents a front volume of a plant connected by a walkway to a rear volume of two floors whose roof assumes the height, slope and materiality of the adjoining roof.

Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK
Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK
Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK

For the new structure, a construction system based on steel profiles was chosen, with the aim of reducing the section of the structural elements, optimizing space as much as possible and generating free and versatile floors.

The use of brick and reed provide warmth and local character to the space, while the glass and white of the walls multiply the light and broaden the spatial perception.

The patio, a space open to the sky that invites reflection on issues inherent to one's own being and the eternal relationship between man and nature, has been present in architectures of all times, in multiple regions.

Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK
Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK
Downtown Restaurant
© BICUBIK

We have explored these relationships to apply them in various projects, rediscovering the beauty and utility of this space.

The sound of the raindrops hitting the water and drawing waves, silence, they become architects of the project and reflect life and time. No more is needed.


Downtown Restaurant
Plan - Ground floor
Downtown Restaurant
Plan - 1st floor
Downtown Restaurant
Implantation and Roof plan
Downtown Restaurant
Section A-A