squalo vino

Squalo Vino is a boutique wine bar in Tiburon, California, designed to capture the same authenticity found in a great glass of wine: a true expression of place, material, and craft. The 600 square foot space sits on Main Street in the heart of downtown Tiburon, blending industrial materials with the character of a historic storefront.

Steel, brass, and stone anchor the space, paired with multi-toned wood, nubby wool, and crushed velvet upholstery for warmth. Cork accents nod to the wine theme throughout, and mobile Vitra stools were chosen specifically because their shape evokes a wine stopper. Every square foot was carefully planned to balance flexibility for groups of varying sizes with smart, design-forward storage, including a custom retail wall and wine bottle display.

The historic storefront was restored using Benjamin Moore's mandated historical color palette, with a modern shark motif on the signage as a playful nod to Tiburon's name and its coastal identity. Furniture throughout was chosen to age gracefully, collecting wine stains as quiet evidence of the evenings spent there.

What began as a design vision has since become something more: a neighborhood gathering place where locals return night after night, where regulars know each other by name.

Sara Alexander led the interiors as lead interior designer while at QA, the architecture firm on the project. Developer: AC Ventures.