{"id":2188,"date":"2026-05-09T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.klicarquitectos.com\/restaurant-grill-inaki\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T09:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:02:18","slug":"restaurant-grill-inaki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.klicarquitectos.com\/en\/asador-inaki\/","title":{"rendered":"Asador I\u00f1aki \u00b7 restaurant on Calle Ayala, M\u00e1laga \u00b7 Klic Arquitectos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stone walls, exposed timber beams, log columns with the bark still on and a fired-clay chequerboard floor: Asador I\u00f1aki was already a restaurant when we arrived, and what we did was keep what was good about it. The brief was not to reinvent it but to renovate premises with a built area of 227.20 m\u00b2 on the ground floor of a historic ensemble protected under M\u00e1laga\u2019s local plan (PGOU), upgrading services and finishes without touching either the envelope or the volume. A restaurant renovation in M\u00e1laga rarely starts from scratch; this one even less so.<\/p>\n

The brief<\/h2>\n

The premises were already operating as a restaurant and remained one: the project does not change the use. What gets redone is everything else \u2014 services, finishes and part of the structure. The basic design (proyecto b\u00e1sico<\/em>) was signed in March 2019 and the construction project in April. Klic took on the full package: both projects, the health and safety study, construction supervision and health and safety coordination at both design and construction stages, with Juan Go\u00f1i Uriarte and Ruth Buj\u00e1n Varela sharing the work 50\/50.<\/p>\n

The schedule of areas tells half the story of the project. On a 404.20 m\u00b2 plot, the premises have 227.20 m\u00b2 of built area, which does not grow by a single metre: inside there are 199.14 m\u00b2 of usable floor area and, outside, 162.94 m\u00b2 of open-air space. Almost half the programme is outdoors. The courtyard was never a seasonal add-on \u2014 it was half the restaurant, and that is how it was designed.<\/p>\n

Renovating within a protected historic ensemble<\/h2>\n

The premises occupy the ground floor of a protected historic ensemble, with ensemble-level protection (protecci\u00f3n de conjunto<\/em>) and record F12c in the Catalogue of Protected Buildings of M\u00e1laga\u2019s current local plan (PGOU<\/em>). The original complex was a series of single-storey terraced houses arranged in an H shape, with open courtyards inside, courtyards at each end and a large front courtyard. That H, drawn decades ago, is the reason the restaurant has five outdoor spaces today.<\/p>\n

Our starting decision was to touch nothing that is protected. Height, volume, building lines and envelope are unchanged, and the built area stays exactly as it was. There is one documented exception: the floor slab over the south bay, which belongs to a later extension to the original ensemble and is not one of the protected elements. It was repaired, strengthened and replaced with a slab of the same structural type.<\/p>\n

The trade-off for that care is administrative. The basic design was approved (visado<\/em>) by the Official College of Architects of M\u00e1laga, and the council process came in two stages: first an abbreviated minor-works permit, then a standard minor-works permit (licencia de obra menor<\/em>). On a listed building, the fast track is enough to get started. Not to finish \u2014 and that is worth knowing before you sign the lease.<\/p>\n

Structure, phases and timescale<\/h2>\n

The new structure was calculated and drawn by the studio itself: HEB 160, HEB 140 and IPN 160 steel sections, with certified R90 fire protection to beams and columns, and concrete testing on the pad footings and the foundations. The works were split into two phases, each with its own tests.<\/p>\n

The health and safety plan allowed for three months. The site record says otherwise: initial survey on 10 January 2019, 21 dated records of visits and follow-up through to 15 November, and four progress certificates between July and December. The scope grew along the way, with items that were not in the original brief. That is what tends to happen with premises in use inside a protected ensemble: a good part of the work only appears once the floor has been opened up, and a timescale that does not allow for it is a timescale that will be missed.<\/p>\n

Construction supervision and health and safety coordination were handled by us, the two architects. Site management was taken on by the building contractor itself, Construcciones y Reformas Jos\u00e9 Antonio Mart\u00edn.<\/p>\n

The result<\/h2>\n

The finished restaurant comprises 13 indoor rooms and 5 outdoor spaces. Inside: a 13.79 m\u00b2 grill area, a 32.62 m\u00b2 kitchen, a 7.98 m\u00b2 bar, dining rooms of 64.94 and 18.60 m\u00b2, private dining rooms of between 9.22 and 12.83 m\u00b2, a storeroom and toilets. Outside: two dining areas of 52.64 and 47.54 m\u00b2 and two private dining areas of 25.60 and 25.26 m\u00b2. The internal partitions are self-supporting plasterboard stud walls, double-boarded on each side with a mineral wool core \u2014 which is what makes a private dining room behave like one.<\/p>\n

Accessibility and evacuation were worked out with the regulations in hand. There is step-free access from the street and an accessible toilet with a sliding door, in compliance with M\u00e1laga\u2019s Accessibility Bylaw, Decree 293\/2009 and DB-SUA 9 of the CTE (Spanish Technical Building Code). For evacuation, occupancy does not exceed 100 people, and that is what allows a single exit from the floor under DB-SI 3.<\/p>\n

The materials build on what was already there. The natural stone walls were kept, and against them work the exposed timber beams, the log columns with the bark left on, the fired-clay floor laid in a terracotta and cream chequerboard, and the earth-coloured stucco. On top of that come the pieces that organise the room \u2014 the glazed cured-meat cabinet, the wine rack in the cellar, the backlit stained-glass panels \u2014 and, outside, the terrace roofed with natural cane matting on a timber frame, behind pierced screens with a geometric grid. A grill house has to smell like one and look like one; the design lies in not getting in the way.<\/p>\n

The works finished in 2019. In 2021 the same client came back with another commission for the same building: the ITE<\/em>, the periodic technical inspection that Spanish councils require for older buildings. If you have premises in M\u00e1laga and want to know what can and cannot be done inside them before you commit, talk to us at Klic Arquitectos<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gallery<\/h2>\n
\"Glazed
Glazed wine cellar at Asador I\u00f1aki on Calle Ayala, M\u00e1laga: natural stone wall, bottle rack, private table with log columns and ceramic mural at the back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Main
Main dining room of Asador I\u00f1aki: illuminated cured-meat cabinet as the centrepiece, side wine cellar and fired-clay chequerboard floor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dining
Dining room of Asador I\u00f1aki: backlit polychrome ceramic skylight, log columns and terracotta chequerboard flooring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Glazed
Glazed wine cellar at Asador I\u00f1aki with private table and backlit polychrome ceramic mural at the back.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Private
Private room at Asador I\u00f1aki: champagne display, round timber table, vintage leather armchairs and a wicker lamp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Main
Washroom at Asador I\u00f1aki: rough natural stone washbasin, preserved original wall and hexagonal terracotta flooring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Private
Private room at Asador I\u00f1aki with a stained-glass artwork of a Basque figure as its signature piece.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dining
Dining room of Asador I\u00f1aki: central cured-meat cabinet, open kitchen at the back and side wine cellar with stone walls.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Bar
Bar counter at Asador I\u00f1aki: solid timber front with Castilian-style raised panels, pale marble countertop and side wine cellar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Outdoor
Outdoor terrace of Asador I\u00f1aki: natural cane canopy, Nasrid-style lattice screens with planting behind and the I\u00f1aki logo on a vertical garden.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Project data<\/h2>\n