Designed by: @arjaandefeyter

Captured by: @tijsvervecken

This project begins with a protected classicist townhouse in the centre of Bruges, an already defined historical context. The apartment was delivered as a neutral shell: structurally correct, but without character. Rather than decorating it, the aim was to give the space weight and anchor it both within its setting and in the lives of its inhabitants. The clients had spent much of their lives abroad, across Asia, Africa and different cultures and climates, and wanted an interior where these layers could coexist.

The apartment is organised around a central space connecting the living area with the attic. A thin metal staircase links the two levels while allowing the space to remain visually continuous. From here, a central hallway distributes the more private rooms, with transitions deliberately softened through doors integrated into wall panelling. The palette combines grounded, expressive materials with dark, warm tones that balance the brightness of the main living space. Deep terracotta red runs through the kitchen, entrance and bathroom, creating a connection between spaces without making them uniform.

Materials were selected for their behaviour over time as much as for their appearance. The brushed black stainless-steel kitchen island was deliberately finished with a rough surface, allowing it to accept wear and become part of everyday life. Throughout the apartment, painting techniques add depth and tactility, while surfaces respond to light, shadow and time. The program remains simple, comprising living, dining, kitchen and private rooms, but specific moments introduce different atmospheres.

The attic becomes a personal archive, almost a small museum, where objects collected during years of travel are given space. A stained-glass door from the clients’ family brewery is also incorporated into the project, not as a nostalgic object but as part of the new composition. The interior therefore brings together history, travel and personal memory without relying on a defined style. Instead, the project focuses on the relationship between past and present, architecture and use, and space and memory, resulting in an interior shaped specifically by its inhabitants and its context.