Animal bones adorn the walls of Hueso Restaurant in Mexico
Thousands of animal bones line the macabre interior of this restaurant in a refurbished 1940s building in Mexico, by design studio Cadena + Asociados (+ slideshow).
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
Headed up by founder Ignacio Cadena, Mexican studio Cadena + Asociados converted a building in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco state, to create the 70-square-metre restaurant.
The client for Hueso Restaurant – which translates as Bone Restaurant – was Cadena's brother, chef Alfonso Cadena.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
Bone-white tiles patterned with a black linear design clad the exterior, while inside a array of animal carcasses decorates the walls.
The skeletal decor takes its cues from the restaurant menu, which includes unusual meaty offcuts like bone marrow.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_12.jpg)
"The design approach begins with creating a double skin," said the studio in a statement.
"On the exterior, a clean artisanal, handmade ceramic tile covering with a graphic approach protects the inside skin layer, which becomes more organic and full of texture."
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
A single bone suspended on a chain above the entrance gives visitors a hint of what lies within.
"Inspired in a Darwinian vision, the inside skin covers almost every vertical square inch of the interior with over 10,000 collected bones," said the team.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_17.jpg)
Bare brick internal walls are washed in a patchy layer of white paint and covered from ceiling-to-floor with animal skulls, fragments of bone, anatomical drawings and white cooking utensils.
The morbid ornamentation is subdued by the white and grey colour palette used throughout.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
In a glass vitrine at the foot of a white staircase, a selection of specimens are laid out like a natural history museum display.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_18.jpg)
Leg bones are stacked like logs underneath a sideboard, piled into white buckets, and positioned on tabletops, where they take the place of traditional floral centrepieces.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_15.jpg)
Steam-bent wooden cafe chairs line the edges of one long wooden table that steps with the tiered floor-level of the restaurant.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
White rods with small bulbs at their tips rise through holes in the table like umbrella stands and at one end of the space a dead tree trunk is planted in a patch of earth.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_13.jpg)
In the kitchen, orders are kept in check between the broken ribs of section of skeleton cast in metal.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_20.jpg)
The concrete walls of the bathroom have been partially covered with glossy white tiles and a horned animal skull is mounted above the toilet like a hunting trophy.
![Hueso Restaurant by Ignacio Cadena at Cadena+Asociados Concept Design](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/12/Hueso-Restaurant-by-Ignacio-Cadena-at-Cadena-and-Asociados-Concept-Design_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
Photography is by Jaime Navarro.
Project credits:
Architect: Ignacio Cadena
Culinary Concept: Alfonso Cadena
Concept and Art Direction: Ignacio Cadena
Lighting and Furniture Design: Ignacio Cadena Architect of Record: Javier Monteón
Ceramics: José Noé Suro
Art Interventions: Los -Originales- Contratistas Tomás Guereña & Miguel Ángel Fuentes
Graphic Design: Rocío Serna
Aluminium Cast Bones: Mauricio & Sebastián Lara Branding
Experience Design: Cadena Concept Design