New Headquarters of Moróro Outdoor Concepts / Minus Interior Architects
New Headquarters of Moróro Outdoor Concepts / Minus Interior Architects
Text description provided by the architects. In Krombeke, a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, Minus interior architects built the interior of the new home base of the Belgian outdoor brand Moróro. The headquarters of the design label consists of two buildings with stylish barn allures that are oriented perpendicular to each other and surrounded by nature, perfectly reconciling the DNA of both companies.
Years ago, Veerle Lapierre and Karel Vanhuyse, the founders of Moróro outdoor concepts, purchased an old farm in Krombeke. In cooperation with Minus interior architects, the site was transformed into the new home base for the family business. The Minus team consciously refurbished/recycled the barn and realized the interior and joinery of the second, elongated new building volume that, perpendicular to it and with the same robust refinement, allows the DNA of both companies to merge into one fascinating entity.
It should not come as a surprise that the sum of the parts is a minimalist result. In recent years, the interior designers of the Belgian company Minus have filled their record of achievements with extremely sophisticated realizations in which nothing is superfluous, sustainability is paramount, every detail is pushed to the limit and the great love of woodcraft is reflected. You can also recognize their signature by the application of the box-in-box principle providing beautiful views, as can be clearly seen in the new Moróro headquarters too. Suspended cabinet modules are also a unique feature that recurs in the Minus portfolio.
In order to achieve all this, the interior designers and cabinet makers of Minus have had their own joinery workshop for generations. There, out-of-the-box ideas are transformed into unique custom-made furniture, as well as into the company’s own design collection. Also typical for Minus: is the absence of technology and, along with it, everything that could cause optical noise, such as handles, door frames, and window frames. It not only brings an atmosphere of intense calm into the home but also guarantees an absolute focus on the outdoor collection of Moróro.
Founded in 2017, Moróro is known for its refined, robust designs with a nod to Brazilian architecture. The warmth that is ingrained in Moróro thanks to its link with Brazil is reflected in the new headquarters by the choice of materials and a color palette with rust-brown accents. The bronze taps and a natural stone kitchen unit are the real eye-catchers. The overwhelming feeling of being on holiday instantly comes to mind. A fine example of Minus’s attention to detail can be seen in the walnut volume that separates the kitchen from the living room in the new building and also recurs elsewhere in the house. With might and main, the right trunk was sought so that one wood pattern would suffice to bridge the distance from the floor to the ceiling.
And since an outdoor label of course wants nature to be close at hand at all times, the link between inside and outside has been maintained by endless maxi windows and by using materials such as wooden slats and brushed concrete both indoors and outdoors. The monochrome appearance of the renovated offices and the new building volume is particularly attractive because as a whole, they blend perfectly into their surroundings.
