Studio Pim have designed a seafood restaurant in Lisbon’s buzzing Bairro Alto that transports you seaside. Led by Perrine Velge, the project is the studio’s third collaboration with the client who also commissioned Leonetta and Java Rooftop in 2021. For Rosamar, the atmosphere is relaxed, capturing the feeling of an endless summer by the beach.

The venue’s strength lies in its varied materiality and subtle layering, without being so pastiche or outwardly on the nose. “Throughout the design I kept this image of an old timber sailing boat set ashore on a beach with a dark sea behind. This is pretty much the colour palette of Rosamar,” explains Perrine.

Guillotine windows front the façade, leading directly into the main bar. Warm timber reeded panelling covers the walls to dado height and follows through to the mezzanine above the bar. Clad in light blue tiles and topped with a warm beige marble, the curved bar is lit up by large Murano vintage shell wall-lights. On the back wall a series of off-white slats is a light nod to the ‘beachy’ theme.

Following the corridor through a narrow path and into an airy bright space leads to a row of arches. In a nod to the ornamental and figurative scenes of the seventeenth-century azulejos one arch is adorned with archetypal Portuguese tiles with a contemporary twist.

In the main dining room, long fabric rolls cover the entire open ceiling softening the brightness of the Portuguese sun while referencing the city’s history of sailing. The unique banquet seating was designed by Pierre Fey especially for the project.

Through the glass doors, the terrace feels like an oasis with an abundance of plants integrated into the joinery. Blue ceramic floors and creamy yellow chairs are paired with rattan lights overhead. From this spot you can view the open kitchen and above it the mezzanine where small banquette nooks allow customers to oversee the entire scene.

[Images courtesy of Studio Pim. Photography by Francisco Nogueira.]