É Prá Poncha : it's time to drink Poncha

As its name indicates, ponchas are the house specialty, a typical Madeira drink which invaded the Continent 9 years ago. The architect Antonio Fernandez responsible for designing É Prá Poncha, was inspired by a cave and tried to work the best with the "depth" and "lack of width" of space. The result was a most stylish hot spot located located in the center of Porto’s nightlife scene. The interior design is made up of indents and layers and was not just there to provide the physical value on the place but also to define the different functioning spaces so it becomes not only a stylish bar design but also functional as well.

The Portuguese nightclub resembles a multi-coloured cavern, complete with chameleonic stalactites that undulate from the ceiling. Located in Porto, the É Pra Poncha bar and club was modeled after natural forms like water dripping from melting ice or eroding limestone hanging from a cave’s ceiling. Mimicking these forms, the entire ceiling of the narrow space is covered with horizontal strata made of lacquered MDF. "Simultaneously these strata wave organically to shape various spaces and create voids and different chambers," says architect António Fernandez. "They develop support services to the bar, like the clean pantry, the dirty pantry, toilets and storage room." Meanwhile, chromatic tones are constantly altered through a series of RGB LED lights, which slowly change over the course of an evening. The space can shift from fiery red to icy blue, likely affecting bar-goers. The bar is located on Porto’s famous Rua da Galeria de Paris, a nightlife hotspot. [1] Read some reviews here.

Poncha is a traditional alcoholic drink from the island of Madeira, made with Aguardente de cana (distilled alcohol made from sugar cane juice), honey, sugar, lemon rind and with different fruit juices according to the version of Poncha, but traditionally lemon juice is used. The drink may be based on an Indian drink called Pãnch/Panch, in Hindi Pãnch/Panch means five and the drink was originally made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. This is also where the English drink Punch has originated from. [2]

[1] Ref. http://retaildesignblog.net/2012/06/03/e-pra-poncha-bar-by-antonio-fernandez-porto-portugal/

[2] Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poncha