V PENTHOUSE
Merckx-Holvoet Architects
ARCHITECTS
Merckx-Holvoet Architects
LEAD ARCHITECTS
Jef De Saedeleer
PHOTOGRAPHS
Eric Petschek
AREA
150 m²
YEAR
2026
LOCATION
Belgium
CATEGORY
Interior Design, Apartment Interiors
English description provided by the architects.
Upon entering this apartment, one experiences a design centered on complete rest, with no room for the pressures of daily life.
The architects sought an interior that envelops without overwhelming, one that reveals itself slowly rather than all at once.
The design centers on poetry and refinement, built around a reduced palette of materials and colors.
The intent was to find a threshold of subtlety, a kind of sophistication that does not assert itself but unfolds gradually.
The layout of the apartment links the front and back of the building, meaning the view toward the coast and the view toward the hinterland, along a single axis.
The tension between the two is created by narrowing the available space at the center of the plan, at the entrance hall and the staircase.
Everything functional is seamlessly integrated, so the spaces themselves remain pure. At the center of this axis a solid, monumental staircase creates a vertical connection to the floor above.
On the upper floor, the master bedroom faces the coast while the guest rooms face the hinterland. Here too, circulation begins from the centre of the floor plan.
The starting point for the material palette is the sand color found along the coastline. Where the view stretches out over the sea, the material palette echoes this seamlessly.
Travertino Noce, oak, Chambolle stone and stucco form the core materials, each with a different finish depending on how it is applied. Nothing is identical, yet everything belongs together.
The choice of fabrics, the metalwork in brushed stainless steel and matte nickel, and the wood used in the furniture were all aligned with this same guiding idea.
Consider the cream white glazed lava stone for the dining table top and the onyx for the hollowed cylinder of the pendant light.
Together these choices sustain one coherent impression throughout the apartment.
Nearly all of the furniture was designed specifically for this project. The few pieces that were not are twentieth century vintage.
