Concept House

If you love minimal achitecture you’ll love this house by CAAN architecten from Ghent, Belgium. The house is situated at the Belgian coast in Oostduinkerke and is a collaboration between my client Designcollectors and Rietveld Projects.

House designed by CAAN architecten

CAAN designed a tight arrangement in a L shape. The longest side of the L shape houses all the large living spaces such as lounge, kitchen, dining area, office, playroom, … The shortest side has all the nighttime areas. The house officially has 3 storages, but if you look closely you’ll count more. It’s a structure with a lot of diagonal lines, an idea by the architects. The entrance is done in Afrormosia, a personal touch by the owners. That same wood is also used for window frames, wardrobes, staircases and parquet. It adds warmth to the concrete and glass. Another eye catcher is the terrace with an open dome for spending time outdoors.

Photography by Bieke Claessens

Let’s look inside

This is the house of Charlotte and her husband Thomas and their children Willem and Olivia. The interior design focuses on distinct furniture elements and artwork. Inside it’s mostly white, a neutral color palette that is timeless. That doesn’t mean there isn’t any color in the house as you’ll notice in the pictures. Color touches come from the artwork, furniture or a flower bouquet. The furniture inside is literally a showcase for the online shop Designcollectors that Charlotte runs together with her sister Tine. It’s a webshop that was founded seven years ago with 3 major design brands; Vitra, Artek and Thonet. When you are this close to the ‘source’ it’s only natural you use the products for your own house and who wouldn’t. I can imagine it’s very tempting to be surrounded by all this beautiful design.

View on the large living area from the kitchen.

The Afrormosia wood adds warmth to the concrete structure and large glass windows.

The window frames that stick out add a nice visual effect. The lamp on the floor is ‘Glo Ball’ by Jasper Morrison for Flos.

DKR chairs from Charles & Ray Eames combined with a vintage table ‘Tulip’ by Eero Aarnio (Knoll) and armchair ‘401’ by Alvar Alto with selected Hella Jongerius fabrics.

The white surfaces bounce light around giving the space an open, airy feel.

‘RAR’ swing chair & office chair ‘Alu chair 104 Hopsak’ both by Charles & Ray Eames. Office ‘Desk S 1200’ by Thonet.

Garden table ‘Gargantua’ by Dirk Wynants for Extremis. ‘Elephant Stool’ by Sori Yanagi and chair ‘06’ by Maarten Van Severen.

The kitchen has a central part in the living area and the large windows flood the space with natural light.

Artwork on the wall by ‘Guy Vandenbranden’

‘Mariposa’ bench by Barber & Osgerby and cushions by Alexander Girad. ‘Coffee table’ by Isamu Noguchi and ‘Rotary Tray’ by Jasper Morrison. ‘Plywood’ chairs from Charles & Ray Eames. The black table lamp ‘Coupe’ by Joe Colombo (Oluce). Artwork on the wall by Joris Ghekiere.

The house is situated close to the dunes and the way the sunlight beams off them is quite magical says Charlotte. To celebrate the launch of this Concept House there’s a temporary discount of 15% off in place on furniture from inside the house. You can discover them here and it runs until June 22. Hope you enjoyed this little tour.