Curves, technology and light for Sutton's metamorphosis

There are venues that are part of Barcelona's history, and of those who live it, also at night. One of them is Sutton, which is approaching 25 years as a nocturnal stage for stories of countless Barcelonians who have passed, continue to pass, or will pass through the club on Tuset Street. Now, this piece of history of the most nocturnal city has been renovated to remain one of the city's reference venues.

With a change of image that opts for rounded lines and new technologies, the club has been completely renovated, and in record time: in seven weeks and five days. "The interior was completely demolished, nothing was left. Everything is new, from the DJ booth to the last plug," highlighted Robert Massanet, owner and director of Sutton Club.

With an investment of around two million euros, the renovation gives prominence to the red of the upholstery and curved shapes, as well as to the ceiling: with hundreds of LED lights, it becomes one more on the dance floor, with effects that move to the rhythm of the music. In fact, there is no longer just one DJ in the booth: there are two, one for the music, and another for the lights, which are dispersed throughout the room through screens and winding lines of light. In total, more than three kilometers of LED strips combine with the music to make the room vibrate. "At a constructive level, it was an important challenge, because they are digital LEDs that must be connected to a computer, and not simple lights," emphasized architect Marta Badia.

The renovation, with which the club maintains its capacity of 810 people, has been carried out through an innovative reengineering project developed by ConstruNext, which won the tender called by the venue in 2024, when the works were initially planned to be carried out. From January to April 2025, ConstruNext reformulated technical solutions, times, and processes to maximize the efficiency, precision, and viability of the renovation. With this system, the club closed at the end of August and reopened on September 26 after a complete metamorphosis and a new design.

The aesthetic proposal, with an interior design project commissioned to Daniel Poch, takes curves as its central element, with 150 benches distributed in a semicircular shape around the dance floor, like an amphitheater with privileged views to contemplate the show. The benches are distributed forming sinuous corridors that give fluidity to the space. And this fluidity must go beyond the aesthetic, as Massanet highlights: to choose Sutton's new look for the coming years, not only the design was taken into account, but also that it would facilitate the movement of customers and the operation of the staff: "If it doesn't flow for the worker, it doesn't flow for the client either."

To achieve these undulations in the shortest possible time, one particular element was key: the prefabrication of all curved pieces, with 3D concrete printers using the innovative technology of the Barcelona startup Aridditive. All this came after ConstruNext digitized the premises with BIM technology, with the aim of shortening the construction times as much as possible: "The challenge was to take advantage of the moment of least clientele," said the director of the Sutton group, Toni Cano. In fact, the Cano family is behind other emblematic venues in the city's nightlife, such as Gatsby —a stone's throw from Sutton— and the also already historic Bikini.

Thus, Sutton has shed its skin to face the coming years with an updated image, which evolves in parallel with its clientele. "A venue of this type should undergo a renovation every ten years or so to update materials and trends," defended its founder, Joaquín Frigola, from ConstruNext. As Massanet highlighted, the objective is clear: "To remain at the forefront and continue to surprise customers," with a metamorphosis to continue adding years to these almost 25 as an iconic venue in the city.