When asked to renovate a 19th Century building in Barcelona’s l’Eixample district for a new restaurant, there must be a huge temptation to break out the heavy machinery and go right back to the original shell – after all, there have been generations of other projects leaving their mark on this property which has now become burger restaurant Oval.

However, designers Flexoarquitectura went easy with the mallet and chisel, instead exposing various layers of the previous incarnations to create an interesting collage of styles, and also helping to keep both project time and costs down. What the studio added were simple boards that could be easily fitted together and cut to form seating, tables and wall panelling, with the result that they got the whole thing done in three months. The burgers are served with a DIY philosophy as well – they are of the build-your-own variety, and are by all accounts are being taken down as quickly as they can be served up. Fast food indeed.

Photography, Jose Hevia