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A Colorful Bao Restaurant in Valencia Inspired by Surfing + Sunsets

07.19.22 | By
A Colorful Bao Restaurant in Valencia Inspired by Surfing + Sunsets

Last year, Clap Studio was contacted to design the first bao restaurant in their hometown of Valencia, Spain. The restaurant partners have traveled throughout Asia, America, and Africa and dreamed up creating the first home-delivered, artisanal bao company. After launching, they wanted to open an actual restaurant and Baovan was born. The colorful, light-hearted design references all of the partners’ love of surfing and exploration.

restaurant exterior shot of building with white and pale green paint with large circular window looking inside

Clap Studio was tasked with translating Baovan’s tag line “Beers, beach, and baos” into the restaurant in order to make patrons feel as if they were transported to the beach to watch the sunset while enjoying their baos.

restaurant exterior shot of building with white and pale green paint with large circular window looking inside

modern restaurant interior with green tones and circular window looking through to peach room

The space is separated into three areas that users discover as they walk through the interior. From the exterior, the visitor enters “the forest” with “ropes” hanging from the ceiling that represent dense vegetation. Past the forest, the patron arrives at the beach with the sunset. The last space is hidden as a reserved dining area for up to 10 people to eat in the moonlight.

modern restaurant interior with peach colored walls with a white square pattern and green hued window with woman sitting on the other side

restaurant interior in peach and white color scheme with floating panels from ceiling

modern restaurant interior with peach colored walls with a white square pattern

modern restaurant interior with walls split featuring half peach and half light blue with darker blue square pattern

modern restaurant interior with half blue tones and half peach

Each space presents a duality of colors designed to visually take visitors in and out of the water.

modern restaurant interior featuring blue and peach tones

The beach area features a half-moon shaped screen that’s programmed by Vitamin Studio to recreate the colors found in a sunset. Above, a blanket of clouds add a magical layer, reflecting the lights of the sunset as they shift.

modern restaurant interior featuring blue and peach tones

modern restaurant interior featuring blue and peach tones

modern restaurant interior with all peach surfaces

modern restaurant interior featuring blue and peach tones

modern restaurant interior featuring blue and peach tones

modern restaurant interior with blue hues

Photos by Daniel Rueda.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.