Botanicafé is a health-focused restaurant and specialty coffee bar in Buenos Aires’ Retiro district, conceived as a laidback counterpoint to the bustling city life outside. Designed by Ohio Estudio as an interior landscape rather than a conventional café, the project brings ideas of biophilia, sustainability, and spatial flow into a single, immersive experience.
At the heart of the design is a continuous green band that stitches together the entire productive area, including the kitchen, bathroom, and mezzanine. Pulled away from the existing perimeter, it creates a service zone while forming a soft backdrop for the coffee bar. This gesture frees the dining space and establishes clear circulation routes.
A second move introduces a subtle topography rising from the floor. Built from a bespoke terrazzo developed through an artisanal process, this landscape defines seating areas and the main bar. The floor itself is imagined as a sequence of water mirrors, inspired by droplets, puddles, and lagoons, with flowing forms that guide movement.
Landscape design by Juan Micelli intertwines throughout the project, integrating planting with circulation, levels, and places to rest. Vegetation grows along routes and edges, reinforcing the idea of a continuous interior garden that evolves throughout the day as light and shadow shift across surfaces.
Colour plays a central role, used through hierarchy and texture. The green band acts as a canvas, with subtle accents guiding visitors intuitively through the space. Existing structural columns are not concealed but reworked, allowing the building’s preexistence to shape the final outcome.
Sustainability is key at this project. Forested woods such as pine and eucalyptus are revalued through staining and colour, celebrating their natural grain. Tables and benches, designed by the studio, follow organic geometries and can be reconfigured to suit daily operations, including a communal table made from three adaptable pieces.
Conceived as a natural oasis, Botanicafé offers a quiet environment where nature emerges indoors, creating a restaurant where architecture, landscape, and daily ritual align.
Botanicafe Buenos Aires Photography, Milagros Sánchez Azcona.
