The Museum Café is located inside the renaissance style arcade of the north facade of the 17th c. building, which now houses the Museum of Sacred Art of Funchal, in the city historic centre. The black basalt lava stone arcade overlooks a small courtyard garden facing to the town hall square.
The area between the arches and the building was enclosed with a glass wall placed behind the columns and this is where you find the main lounge of the café. The terrace occupies the garden courtyard and the service areas are installed in the adjacent compartments of the building.
On the main wall inside the coffee shop there are four former windows turned into showcases, exhibiting images taken from the museum art pieces. The backlit printed images are portraits of sculpted figures, displayed as advertising posters.
The balcony, ceiling, window frames and all the furniture are black, contrasting with the room’s yellow painted background wall.
This project received the Funchal heritage award in 2003.
