The blue-tiled front of Lisbon restaurant Marco hides a surprisingly contemporary interior fresh from a recent renovation.

FMJPC Architecture and Design oversaw the refurb, designed to fit around the building’s existing stone pillars. The restaurant’s design is organised as separate ‘dining rooms’ marked out by subtly different design choices, says the firm.

Shades of blue, chosen to echo Marco’s tiled frontage, run throughout the space, from leather-covered benches to the stairs that lead up to the first-floor dining room – also half-painted in navy.

Elsewhere, the studio has kept things simple, installing black tub chairs on steel legs, globe-shaped pendant lights, and a series of arched rattan dividers. A wall of creeping ivy adds some unexpected greenery to the restaurant interior.

Marco is located on Lisbon’s Largo Santos, and its house special is Francesinha – a Portuguese sandwich covered in melted cheese, tomato, and beer sauce.

Largo Santos 14D, 1200-109 Lisboa, Portugal

Berlin restaurants in extraordinary spaces