Formant Studio Reinterprets Chicago Tavern for Nota Tavern in Mexico City

Formant Studio designed the interiors and most of the furniture for Nota Tavern, a two-storey Italian-American restaurant set inside a former hacienda-style residence in Mexico City's Escandón I neighbourhood.

The local practice was tasked with translating the design of classic Chicago taverns into a contemporary mode.

"The main request was to create a faithful interpretation of the neighbourhood taverns of Chicago – the kind of places built less around spectacle and more around familiarity," Formant Studio co-founder Alejandro Valencia told Dezeen.

"The design translates the character of a classic tavern into a contemporary architectural language."

What references shaped the interiors?

Beyond the tavern typology, the studio drew on two architects closely associated with Chicago. Valencia said the design integrates the clean minimalism of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the warmer modernism of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Following the tradition of 20th-century modern architects, Formant Studio designed most of the furniture itself: black-stained oak tables, steel bar stools and sleek metal sconces.

Mexican rosewood panels clad the majority of the dining room and form the custom banquettes, which are upholstered in black Kvadrat textiles.

How did the existing building shape the layout?

The restaurant occupies half of an original hacienda-style residence. The owner preserved that portion after the rest of the house was converted into an apartment building, and Formant Studio said the previous space defined how it organised the restaurant.

Ornate stone pillars that once framed an entrance portico still stand in the space. The team stripped the paint from the pillars, turning them into a centrepiece of the main dining room.

"The shape of the existing space largely determined the furniture layout," said Valencia.

"We used the longer walls to accommodate the built-in booths, establishing a clear spatial rhythm while keeping the central area flexible and allowing the dining room to adapt to different group sizes and configurations."

An entrance vestibule holds a host stand. A door leads to a rich brown-painted metal spiral staircase that rises to a private dining room upstairs.

Past the host stand, the front area of the main dining room holds a large banquette and a seating bar that looks out through an operable window onto the street.

Beyond the columns, tables are arranged under a double-height ceiling. The team painted the former space's rafters white, and a mezzanine from the private dining space juts out over a row of banquette seating. Its high boundary provides privacy from below.

The bar sits at the back of the space, with a mirror backsplash and rosewood millwork above. A Paxwave sound system was installed throughout.

Sheer white cloths on the tables contrast with the stained-black chairs and polished grey terrazzo flooring.

What lies behind the dining room?

The kitchen sits under the private dining room and is hidden from the main space. Mirrors line the wall dividing the kitchen, and the windows opposite have metal grating. Galeria Córdoba curated the art and antiques.

Formant Studio also designed its own studio in Mexico City, which it shares with photographer Fabián Martinez. Dezeen included the practice in a list of notable Mexico designers earlier this year. The photography is by Fabián Martinez.