Tour a Brutalist Antwerp Apartment That Was Stripped Down to Its Bones

Bram Van Cauter always wanted to live in the Riverside Tower. The Antwerp-based architect, who now runs Studio Okami, first became acquainted with the early-1970s high-rise development during an internship at the start of his career. As he helped remodel a duplex, he became awestruck by the Leon Stynen and Paul De Meyer design and was determined to own one himself.

“I was amazed by a space of 230 square meters on the 13th and 14th floors,” he remembers. “It really blew my mind that it was possible. The first thing that I said to myself was if I ever have the chance to live in that tower, I would seize the opportunity.”

A decade and many jobs later, Bram finally purchased a single-story apartment on the 15th floor. Though he was thrilled to move into his dream building, he still had his eye on a duplex and waited for two more years for one to become available. Once Bram secured it, he immediately began to actualize the vision that he had been refining since his internship.

In just three months, Bram completely transformed the two-level home to match its Brutalist exterior. He ripped out all the dividing walls and stripped the perimeter down to the bare concrete, which he then sandblasted for a textured finish. “The ceilings are very high, about 5.85 meters [or over 20 feet], and there’s a lot of natural light from double-height windows, so it was logical to make everything concrete without it being too grim,” he explains.