Located near Brussels Airport just a few miles from the city center, the Crowne Plaza Brussels Airport has become a landmark hotel for tourists and business travelers alike. The challenge for CRAFT, as the hotel’s renovated restaurant is named, was to attract locals, business travelers and international tourists alongside hotel users to enjoy new food experiences throughout the day.
In Belgian culture, hotels are not generally considered places to stop for a drink or enjoy a fancy dinner, so the goal the architects at WeWantMore set themselves was ambitious indeed. The studio immersed itself in CRAFT’s brand identity and mission, working closely with the chef to understand and feel the brand’s vision, synonymous with determination, craftsmanship and meticulous attention to hospitality, and then set about creating their design.
The principles underpinning the design for the restaurant’s interior were the nation’s art nouveau heritage and an international, contemporary atmosphere with a hint of the colonial. Wide copper arches divide the open space into multiple functional zones, each with a different atmosphere: intimate areas suitable for working lunches, private boxes with seats featuring upholstered fabrics, spaces for aperitifs among friends on long, leather-clad benches, secluded nooks ideal for a romantic dinner, and comfortable lounge chairs with views over the surrounding parkland.
Bespoke tailoring shines out from every project detail in all of the rooms and different areas in the restaurant. Custom-made furniture and lighting, plus the use of raw and natural materials such as wood, basalt, marble, concrete and copper, convey an idea of solidity and craftsmanship. The masterpiece flooring envisioned in the design combines different materials and finishes, each cut and laid directly in situ to create a geometric pattern of shapes and colors.
The bar area in the center of the restaurant acts as a distributive element in space, lit by a copper chandelier with radiating extensions that distributes spots of light throughout the bar. The concrete-clad bar contrasts with the wooden countertop, their dialogue softened by the peachy pink-hued chandelier. The motif on the concrete recalls the copper arches that divide the rooms, creating a consistent identity throughout the space.
The interior design reflects CRAFT’s creativity and craftsmanship, conveying the brand’s vision and bringing tourists, travelers and locals into the hotel for the pleasure of being there.
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Client: Covivio
Completion: 2021
Gross Floor Area: 690 m2
Interior Designer: WeWantMore
Main Contractor: ACI
Photography: Nicolas Sainderichin, courtesy of WeWantMore
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