La Palma Resort
Open-air restaurant and reflection pool for a boutique Balearic resort — restored pergola, banana-palm courtyard, concrete and wicker.
Project Overview
La Palma is a 40-room adults-only retreat on Mallorca's east coast. We designed the central courtyard restaurant — the heart of the guest day, used for breakfast, long lunches, and late dinners.
Design Approach
The existing pergola was a concrete grid that cast hard stripes all day. We kept it (it's the building) and softened it with a timber batten inner layer that diffuses the light into dappled patterns — like sitting under a canopy of trees. Banana palms in the central bed reinforce the illusion; a shallow reflection pool at the pergola's centre cools the air by several degrees.
Material Palette
- Microcement floors in the palest sand tone, sealed to shed salt and poolside spills.
- Wicker-drum pendants at 1.6m intervals — the only decorative move. Everything else is architecture.
- Sage-velvet banquettes against the outer wall, in custom-dyed cotton-linen blend that holds up to sunscreen.
- Raw oak tables with through-tenon legs, oiled rather than lacquered so they age gracefully.
Outcome
Completed spring 2024. The restaurant now serves three covers a day year-round. The banana palms have doubled in size since opening.