Since 1836, generations of Madrid’s establishment and jeunesse dorée have been quietly inducted into the Casino de Madrid. Housed in a grand old pile in Calle Alcalá, the private members’ club has only ever allowed public access to its restaurants – the rooftop aerie of executive chef Paco Roncero being both the club’s crown jewel and a chance for nosy interlopers to peek into its grand interiors.
After 30 years of continuous service, La Terraza del Casino restaurant, a high-ceilinged space comprising a series of bright rooms linked by arched doorways, has become a modern classic.
The designer Jaime Hayon who redesigned its interiors 10 years ago has just returned for a spruce-up. In 2007 he intruded lightly on the historic space, injecting quiet moments of youthful levity and humour through his trademark love for geometric shapes. He set the scene at the reception by hanging a chandelier of polished metal and bulbs that, on second glance, morphs into the shape of a smiling face. From there, the Spaniard riffed off harlequin themes with black and white chequered marble floors, coloured glass, and canary yellow seats in a sea of white drapery.
For La Terraza del Casino redux, Hayon has brightened the palette considerably, transforming the greys and whites of the original design into a vivid tropical palette of blue and yellow accents set against a pale green interior. New ceramics, vases and objects and banana leaf palms were selected to add energy, combining to create an upbeat sense of glamour.
The result is a vivacious yet sophisticated room that allows Roncero’s conceptual menu – think chicken with molé and truffle, and hake kokotxas with spinach curry and pil-pil sauce – to shine without ever looking pretentious. Consider us duly impressed.
ADDRESS
Casino de Madrid
Alcalá 15
-
Fluid workspaces: is the era of prescriptive office design over?We discuss evolving workspaces and track the shape-shifting interiors of the 21st century. If options are what we’re after in office design, it looks like we’ve got them
-
This collection of slow furniture is a powerful ode to timeA serene exhibition of David Dolcini's 'Time-made' collection has fast-tracked its place into our hearts and homes
-
Is the Pragma P1 the most sustainable watch yet?Geneva-based brand Pragma combines industrial design with real sustainable credentials
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designThere’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
‘I explored Benidorm with an open mind’: the famous Spanish seaside town is captured in a new photo bookFrom neon lights to pink sunburns, photographer Rob Ball turns his lens on Benidorm to see what remains of a ‘pan-European holiday utopia’
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Brach Madrid: a hotel of love and passionBrach Madrid, part of Evok Collection, is a charming city-centre bolthole designed by Philippe Starck
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
-
The most whimsical hotel Christmas trees around the worldWe round up the best hotel Christmas tree collaborations of the year, from an abstract take in Madrid to a heritage-rooted installation in Amsterdam
-
The world’s most enticing new hotel openingsExplore the best new hotels in the world, from the revival of a grande dame in Madrid to the restoration of a gothic beauty in Prague
-
Mallorca’s ‘chocolate hotel’ celebrates six decades of Mediterranean panacheSixty years after it opened, Hotel de Mar remains a celebrated example of Mediterranean vernacular architecture
-
Easy and breezy: Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor is now openWe found Balearic bliss at Four Seasons Resort Mallorca at Formentor, the place to live the Mediterranean dream and connect with nature
