Collection by Dan Buben
Island Life
The appealing, handcrafted appearance of the concrete kitchen island is a happy accident, the result of the concrete not settling fully in its timber framing. When the framing was
removed, the builder, Peter Davidson, was worried that Davor and Abbe would be disappointed with the bubbled result and offered to start the process again, but they loved its one-off feeling and persuaded him to keep it that way.
When Belgian fashion retailer Nathalie Vandemoortele was seeking a new nest for her brood, she stumbled upon a fortresslike house in the countryside designed in 1972 by a pair of Ghent architects, Johan Raman and Fritz Schaffrath. While the Brutalist concrete architecture and petite but lush gardens suited her tastes to a tee, the interiors needed a few updates.
An important aspect of the home’s design is the seamless flow between inside and outside, which is enhanced not only by large windows and doors, but also by the home’s materials. The majority of the surfaces and structural elements in both the interior and exterior are composed of concrete, stainless steel, and wood, ensuring a unification between the two while guaranteeing durability. Concrete floors require little maintenance, while local wood helps the home blend into its surrounding landscape.