Chiquita fits books, coffee and wine into 59 square metres in Valencia’s El Botànic neighbourhood. Designed by SahuquillodeArriba and completed in July 2026, the project makes its small footprint readable through two long elements: a bookcase on one side and a bench on the other.

The bookcase is made from ash stained a deep burgundy. It runs through the premises as a continuous piece of joinery, giving the collection a strong presence without dividing the room into separate departments. Its colour continues towards the bathroom, extending the visual thread beyond the main space.

Opposite, a built-in bench and small white marble tables establish a quieter edge. The arrangement leaves the middle of the room available for movement and lets visitors understand the space at a glance. Display, seating and circulation each have a clear position.

The ceiling gives the interior another register. Its rough surface is finished in pale blue, contrasting with the precision of the timber shelving. Existing walls were recovered and treated with a thin, breathable finish. The resulting room brings carefully made furniture into contact with surfaces that retain an uneven texture.

Lighting is closely tied to the joinery. A glow from the shelves gives the books their own place in the room, while wall lights and table lamps bring illumination closer to seated visitors. The scale of the light supports the scale of the furniture: the interior is encountered from a chair as much as from the entrance.

A larger table at the rear accommodates reading clubs, meetings and other activities. It gives the project an additional use without requiring a dedicated event room. That is particularly important in a premises this small, where a single inflexible arrangement could quickly limit what happens inside.

Initiated by product designer Gloria Izquierdo, Chiquita is organised around the overlap between retail and neighbourhood gathering. Its architectural interest lies in how little is needed to establish that overlap. The bookcase carries the programme, the bench makes staying comfortable, and the shared table gives people a reason to meet.

Does a small cultural space need a spectacular form, or simply a convincing place to sit together? Chiquita offers a useful answer through ordinary components given careful proportions and a clear relationship.

Photographs by Oleh Kardash, sourced from SahuquillodeArriba’s project portfolio. Architecture by Adrián de Arriba and Guillermo Sahuquillo.