Corella Meat Shop: Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona
Recent times have seen a huge blow to the butchery trade. With ongoing developments uncovering the publics doubts and concerns for meat products, this has undoubtedly led to consumers shunning processed meats and supermarket meat based products in favour of returning to our respective high street butchers.
With these ongoing relentless enquiries into the horse meat scandals, there is no doubt that the trade of these butchers shops must be on the up. Within a 250m radius of my home in London there are now 6 chain supermarkets, but my local butcher, the Parsons Nose in Fulham SW6, has queues all day long. On the corner of the street you can watch the butchers chop and fillet enormous joints all hanging in the window waiting for you to make your selection. M Moens & Sons on Clapham Common & Lidgate’s on Holland Park Avenue are also both institutions in London.
On to Barcelona and a more contemporary aesthetic. The Corella family who have recently instructed interior design firm Sandra Tarruella Interiors to undertake this brilliant instruction, to design the family’s second butchers shop with a modern ethos.
The brief was to create a warm space where quality, and process transparency was of utmost importance. Visibility for customers to see the meats whilst browsing the butchers shop. Passing along each counter at Corella, you can witness the highly skilled (and super trendy) butchers prepare each cut to your request. The back of house and sales area are both visually connected, so customers street side can also watch and appreciate. A technique the family believe has been lost over the years.
There is a market feel to the space, buzzing with browsers and patrons of the two tasting bars in the shop. The element of warmth has been introduced by way of a reclaimed parquet floor which connects well with the traditional butchers block table surfaces. In typical style of the cafés in Barcelona, there are a couple of sturdy wood bars for the customers, enticing you try the tasting bar whilst waiting for their orders.
The Tasting Bars
I discovered Sandra Tarruella’s work last year on a whistle stop tour Madrid & Barcelona. It seems all of the most notable design cafés and restaurants in Barcelona have been designed by Sandra & her team. My favourites are Bar Lobo (won my award for the best croquettes in Barcelona), Luzia, Pez Vela, and Mordisco, try and get to Mordisco for lunch, the conservatory is gorgeous.
Sandra’s studio has also undertaken commissions for the W Hotel group, Camper, Hotel del Teatre, the Bliss Spa Group, and many restaurants in Europe. Madrid has a couple of wonderful restaurants the team designed including Luzi Bombon & Bar Tomate.
Below, a dis-used cattle waterer has been adapted into a basin for the shop bathroom.
Corella’s website can be found here
Follow the designers of Corella at @SandraTarruella
Images courtesy of Sandra Tarruella Interiors Press Dept.
#LWSY #CorellaMeatShop