December 7, 2018 | by Harriet Thorpe for Wallpaper.com | Photos by Jeroen Verrecht
“It’s not what you do, or the type of company you are, it’s the people who are important.”
Sinking into a deep sofa surrounded by candles and ceramic vases filled with flowers is not something you might associate with a hard day at work. That’s exactly why co-working company Fosbury & Sons’ ideas are just so radical.
Started by Serge Hannecart, Stijn Geeraets and Maarten Van Gool in 2016, Fosbury & Sons create environments filled with warmth and comfort. They believe that a humanist, elegant and holistic work place is the best route to success.
Boitsfort, the first of three Brussels locations opening next year, is located just outside of the city centre. With its curved windows and amber tinted glazing, the architecture of the building is certainly unlike any office we’ve seen before.
Designing the interiors were Michiel Mertens and Anaïs Torfs of Going East, who also worked on the Antwerp space. The team built a temp sur temp palette upon the warm grays of the rough speckled concrete, the golden tones of the timber flooring, and the lowlights of the cherry wood cupboard doors.
“We wanted to create the right balance between cool and warm materials,” says Torfs. “All items are handpicked, even the little pieces,” says Mertens. “It’s really a design for a home.” The effect is welcoming, cozy and human.
Fosbury & Sons’ explores a much bigger question: “How can you motivate your people in the best way? Is it through rules or can you help them grow by letting them be who they are. And support them by giving them the best surroundings they can have, in a human way,” says Geeraets.
The forward-thinking duo put these values into practice in their own company that operates out of their Antwerp space and has gone from strength to strength, expanding to open up even more desk space.
“We don’t tell people what to do, because they know best. A lot of companies are still in a state of command and control, we look more to trust and results, and support.”
They find that their Fosbury & Sons tenants also share these common values: “It’s not what you do, or the type of company you are, it’s the people who are important,” says van Gool. “They are all eager to do what they do, the best they can.”
Read more about the new Fosbury & Sons location and their design-focused work-life philosophy here.
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