forty eight rocks A mine in Chile was chosen to form the centerpiece of London’s Merida restaurant Designed by Macarena Aguilar Izquierdo of Santiago-based studio DAW.
Merida is the brainchild of owner Pranay Agarwal, who wanted to bring Chilean food, design and culture to London.
The Rock Library is one of several custom pieces inside the Fitzrovia restaurant, intended to connect the interior to the country’s diverse natural landscape.
Aguilar Izquierdo and Aggarwal traveled to Combarbala, a mining town in northern Chile, to select stones of Combarbalita, a semi-precious volcanic rock unique to the region.
Each rock has its own shelf within a custom-made wooden display case.
“An important part of the concept of Merida is related to the journey through the Andes Mountains,” black crow founder Aguilar Izquierdo told Dezeen.
“It felt very relevant to us to be able to present this in the restaurant sector and make it tangible.”
Agarwal was born in Mumbai and raised in Hong Kong, but fell in love with Chile through her husband. His vision was of a restaurant that drew from the mountainous, rainforest and coastal regions of the country.
It provided the starting point for Aguilar Izquierdo’s interior design, as well as for the menu developed by head chef Trinidad Viel Della Maggiora and guest chef Carolina Bazan.
Almost all materials and details were sourced and manufactured in Chile, then shipped to the UK in a container.
Another key element is the bar, which was designed in collaboration with a London-based Chilean architect Male Uribe,
Uribe specializes in working with mining waste from lithium extraction.
They developed a family of tiles, consisting of comberbalite powder, quartz and copper stitching, which create a 3D geometric relief on the front of the bar.
“It consists of 16 geometric combinations in six colors, creating an Andean rhythm and texture,” Aguilar Izquierdo said.
“The material features Koombarba stone as a base, connecting the story to the natural stones found in the cabinet.”
Artworks in the show include one published by the artist javier toro blumwhich hangs in the restaurant window, and a textile by the designer hangs on the wall josephina conchaWhich takes cues from the landscape and ocean of Chile.
Other fabric pieces were produced by Textile Atelier Sisa StudioWhich includes linen and velvet curtains marked with shades of deep blue and soft brown.
“Each piece was hand-painted to create layers of color that speak of the relief and the sea, including blue that changes with the light inside the space,” said Aguilar Izquierdo.
Mérida’s logo is a triangle, which refers to the country’s location within the Lithium Triangle, the geographic region that holds most of the Earth’s salt supply.
Triangular motifs can be found throughout the restaurant, in the copper details on the tables, on custom napkins, and even in some of the dishes prepared by the chef.
“The interior design strives to create an honest atmosphere using real materials in a contemporary space,” said Aguilar Izquierdo.
“We wanted to introduce a new approach with simple and elegant objects connected to nature.”
Other recent London restaurant openings include Neon-lit Bun House Disco in Shoreditch And Ara, which was made from responsibly sourced materials including clay plaster,
Photography is courtesy of Merida.
