The philosophy for the design of the Quetzal restaurant was to work with designers based in Portugal and produce everything local.
Glazed ceramic tiles or ‘azulejos’ are everywhere in Portugal. They cover the walls of train stations, restaurants, bars, public murals, and fountains, churches, and altar fronts. So, the first thing we asked the interior designers Ana Anahory and Felipa Almeida was to think of a modern tiled wall that would feature the bird, Quetzal.
They commissioned Henriette Arcelin, a French illustrator and ceramicist, living between Lisbon and Dublin, to make her first site-specific mural. She made a beautiful colorful design with the Quetzal bird in full flight in an imagined jungle. The tiled wall was produced by Viuva Lamego, the colors became the inspiration for the rest of the interior.
