Club de Mar Mallorca has never been just another marina. Founded in 1972, as Palma was becoming an international sailing destination, it helped draw large yachts from the French Riviera and place the city on the Mediterranean nautical map. After a five-and-a-half-year redevelopment, the club has reopened with whimsical interiors by Madrid-based designer Marta de la Rica.
Sail into Club de Mar in Mallorca
Her brief was to honour the club’s past without turning it into a museum of maritime nostalgia. ‘I wanted to create a unity of purpose through colour, material and shape,’ says de la Rica. She looked to vintage Riva runabouts – their high-varnish hulls, lacquered surfaces and easy glamour – as well as the club’s own 1970s origins, ‘an era that expressed luxury in a very sensorial and relaxed way’.
High-gloss lacquered wood runs through the bars, counters and wall panels, with slats, softened corners and rounded edges giving the rooms a nautical language without anchors on the wall. Light catches the varnish, chrome and glass, warming the interiors as it moves through the space.
The palette borrows from nautical flags, with red, blue and yellow drawn from the International Code of Signals. Stripes appear across upholstery and textiles, while sculptural furniture, rounded geometries, burgundy conical lamps and oval bars give the club a strong visual identity. Much of it was custom-designed, with nautical antiques from the club archive placed throughout: boat models, barometers, anchors and diving helmets. ‘Antiques bring soul and history to a space,’ says de la Rica.
Looking towards Palma’s Old Town and cathedral, the terrace feels afloat. ‘When you’re on the terrace looking out towards the Old Town and the cathedral, it feels as though you’re on a boat,’ says de la Rica. For her, the sea is present ‘not through thematic elements, but through materials, proportions and light’. The result is glossy, graphic and rooted in place: a 1970s-tinged yacht club interior that knows exactly where it belongs.
Club de Mar is located at Muelle Pelaires, 07015 Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain