Team | Joni Nieuwenhuysen Bruno Spaas |
Location | Kattendijkdok Westkaai 41 B-2000 Antwerp |
Year | 2019-2022 |
Contractors | MCM Bouw Cools Interior |
Suppliers | Van Den Weghe (Natural Stone & Terrazzo) PSLab (Lighting Design) |
Press | Wallpaper* |
Divisare | |
Sabato De Tijd | |
Sabato L'Echo | |
Baumeister | |
ARK Journal | |
AD Italia | |
designboom | |
Yinjispace | |
ELLE DECOR | |
est | |
INTERIOR+DESIGN |
Despite perching 15 floors high, there is solid ground in this penthouse situated in a tower building conceived by Swiss architects Diener & Diener. With the entire 350 square meter flooring made from chunks of light brown local natural stone, the earth has been raised into the sky.
Upon opening the front door, one is met with an immediate panoramic view over the city of Antwerp, due to a sizable floor-to-ceiling window right opposite the door. Stepping inside the entrance only intensifies the sensory experience: except for the stone floor, the 25 square meter foyer is like a mirror box reflecting the city view endlessly. Distortion-free tempered mirrors and high-glossy painted surfaces are recurrent in the apartment which play with the feeling of space, reflection and perspective, on cupboards, sliding doors, room dividers – even on inside of the kitchen extractor hood.
Besides a few carrying internal walls, the floor planning and all the interior elements have been designed and made-to-measure. The apartment is intended to be both flexible and open, and for that reason there is free circulation throughout the whole space with no dead ends, just doors to divide and add privacy when needed.
Verticality has been used as an overall aesthetic theme in the detailing and features of the built-in and freestanding furniture. The bench in the foyer and the kitchen islands along with sanitary elements like sinks and the bathtub in the master bathroom are customised pieces carrying the same visual expression, all built by strips of locally produced Belgian terrazzo. Their features are repeated in the painted woodwork, creating a common language and underlining the verticality of the tower.