Map-inspired bill boxes for Barceló La Nucía

The project

Presenting the bill can also be part of a restaurant’s identity. For La Santa Maria gastrobar at Barceló La Nucía, we designed and made bill boxes to hold the bill and payment at the end of lunch or dinner. Treasure maps provided the starting point for a personalised tabletop object.

The reference to maps from the age of conquistadors and privateers took the form of a map connected to the location itself: each lid is engraved with a map of the municipality, with a cross marking the hotel’s position. The personalisation therefore goes beyond identifying the venue, placing the hotel within the graphic motif.

The base is made from milled, sanded and stained pine. Its rectangular form is paired with an acrylic lid, with the map engraved on the surface and bronze-coloured lacquer applied to the reverse. The lid’s bronze appearance comes from this finish rather than from a metal component.

The finished bill box combines an everyday restaurant service function with a specific reference to the hotel’s surroundings. The stained wood and bronze-toned lid give physical form to the treasure map concept, bringing the graphic and the object together.

A cross on the engraved map marks the hotel’s location.

Surface-engraved acrylic with bronze-coloured lacquer on the reverse.

Processes and materials: fabrication services · available materials · studio machinery.