Barcelona, Spain, 2026-10-15 - 

Located within Kimpton Los Monteros Marbella Hotel, Azul Lounge Bar takes the building’s 1970s architecture as the starting point for a contemporary Mediterranean interior. Its name, Azul—the Spanish word for blue— has been carried over from the original bar, keeping a link with the place’s history.

 

The project draws on Marbella’s particular place in the imagination of travel: an international destination associated with glamour in the 1960s and 70s, and with the sociable spirit of the time. EL EQUIPO CREATIVO brings that spirit into a contemporary interior. Andalusia’s vivid colours, generous light, warmth and traditions of craft shape the atmosphere. The experience unfolds through changing views and varying degrees of intimacy. 

 

The bar as an architectural pivot 

At the centre, a 360º ceramic bar anchors the open space. Its curved form guides movement between the interior and terrace, offering a point of reference from different positions in the room and bringing the two settings into a continuous sequence.

 

Rounded openings, curved edges and soft transitions carry this geometry through the interior. The openings frame partial views and reveal the murals gradually, giving depth to the movement between areas.

 

Colour, art and Mediterranean light 

Large, hand-painted murals bring the bar’s blue into the room, quietly evoking both the name Azul and the nearby Mediterranean. Their fluid, abstract forms draw on Picasso’s female figures. Born in Málaga, just along the coast from Marbella, Picasso also explored the relationship between painting and architecture through monumental murals in the 1950s and early 60s. At Azul Bar, the murals are inseparable from the architecture.

 

Set within rounded openings, the murals appear in fragments as views shift across the room. They link different areas while allowing each viewpoint to reveal something new.

 

The depth of the blue is balanced by pale ceramic surfaces, warm timber, brass details, ochres, terracotta and natural tones. This tactile palette draws on Andalusia’s warmth and craft traditions without becoming literal.

Timber lattice screens filter the daylight, casting patterns of light and shade across the room and softening the boundary between inside and terrace.

 

As the light changes, so does the room: bright and open during the day, more intimate as evening approaches. The transition is gradual, shaped by light on familiar surfaces and the shifting relationship between the interior and outside.

 

A layered interior

Changes in level give the room its rhythm. Raised platforms, lower seating areas and small niches offer different perspectives and ways to settle in. Furniture and light distinguish each setting while keeping the space visually connected.

 

Banquettes, lounge seating and niches offer places close to the activity as well as more sheltered corners. Each furniture piece has been selected with care for its colour, texture and form. Rounded silhouettes and considered colour choices bring a subtle 1970s note into the present.

 

At Azul Bar, the experience is shaped by gradual shifts: from the interior to the terrace, from more social areas to sheltered corners, and from daylight into evening. Art, colour, materials and movement give form to a space that evokes Andalusian character and the image of Marbella as a glamorous travel destination in the 1960s and 70s.