PENTHOUSE INTERIOR DESIGN, STACK ROTTERDAM

They were counting down, they wrote. One sentence later: we are really struggling with the interior design. From their apartment on Sint-Jobshaven, they watched STACK rise across the water, floor by floor, up to the 22nd, where their Rotterdam penthouse would be. They had bought a home that did not yet exist, with a floor plan someone else had already filled in.

The message arrived in November 2023, from two men with busy careers and two cats. They expected the keys in the summer of 2024. By then, they had already made their first decisions. The bathrooms had to be ordered through the developer, and the sauna and Jacuzzi had been chosen. They had even drawn their own kitchen layout, right down to the position of the freezer. “I hope there is still enough of a challenge left for you to turn it all into a beautiful, coherent whole,” they added.

LIFE FIRST, THEN THE FLOOR PLAN

Before our first meeting, they told us how they wanted to live and work. Both named the dining table as their favourite spot. “The dining table, with a view of Rotterdam’s beautiful skyline.” And the other answer? “At the dining table. For meals and board games.” Board games. “Especially the ones that take a while, a few hours.” There had to be room for guests: friends dropping by, people staying over, proper workspaces and, of course, space for their two pedigree cats.

THE CHALLENGE: A FLOOR PLAN FULL OF RED CODES

The developer’s drawing arrived, covered in red numbers, one for every change. Extra sockets, moving walls, relocating the kitchen. Apparently, a 3.6-metre kitchen tucked into the corner was enough for a penthouse. Meanwhile, the storage and laundry rooms occupied a block on the other side of the living room. Bulkheads, service shafts and structural columns were fixed in place throughout the plan.

Sound familiar?

THE APPROACH: LIFESTYLE FIRST

In a detailed session with the clients, we mapped their lifestyle onto the floor plan, giving their favourite moments a place of their own. Board-game evenings at a long table overlooking the city. The coffee ritual that mattered so much to both of them, with a custom-made coffee machine that deserved its own spot.

Film nights when the film takes centre stage and the view can wait. Or reading with nieces and nephews in the window seat, with a cat on someone’s lap.

AND NOW IT IS FINISHED

The 4.8-metre kitchen island takes its place in the east-facing part of the home, separating the private rooms from the living area. Behind the kitchen wall, where the coffee machine has pride of place, are the storage and laundry rooms. A full-length run of dark wood cabinetry conceals the changes in wall depth.

Whoever is cooking looks out across the city, with the Euromast clearly in view. The appliances combine Gaggenau quality with the BORA Professional range, including those beautiful controls integrated into the worktop.

AROUND THE TABLE

The table has the most prominent position of all. The skyline on one side, the roof terrace on the other. This is where they enjoy dinner with friends, and a game that spans several evenings can simply stay on the table. The games cupboard is concealed in the window recess beside it. Once again, the cabinetry hides the awkward changes in wall depth and creates long, uninterrupted sightlines.

FILM NIGHT

“We don’t really use our current seating area,” they wrote about their old apartment. So here, the seating area is deliberately compact: a leather sofa with an ottoman, and a record player on its own cabinet against the purple steel wall. Little moments. That is what this space is about. Cocooning with a good record. Or watching a great film together.

The view from the sofa offered little of interest: the step up to the terrace and the Jacuzzi, with a brick parapet beyond. The skyline only comes into view when you stand out on the roof terrace. So the bespoke TV cabinet sits right in front of the glass. It screens the Jacuzzi and makes room for an evening at the movies. The terrace tiles continue indoors beneath the cabinet, connecting inside and out.

THE GUEST ROOM THAT ISN’T THERE

Beyond the kitchen, by the balcony, two desks face each other. A workspace for each of them. Or should that be a gaming space? The bookcase, meanwhile, holds an entirely different world. Push it and it swings smoothly open, revealing the hidden guest room.

Behind that door, the room could become a world of its own, with purple walls, bold wallpaper and an eccentric lamp. There is a foldaway guest bed and a separate guest bathroom. With no guests staying, it is simply a bookcase.

When they wanted to show the 3D animation to their family, they first asked for a version with an all-white guest room. The surprise had to last until the first overnight visit. At a birthday gathering, the iPad with the 3D design went around. That same day, they wrote: “Everyone was incredibly impressed!”

WHAT ARE YOU MOST ATTACHED TO?

“If it has to be something material, my bed. That is coming with us,” one of them wrote. The Hästens bed now stands in the new east-facing main bedroom, where the sun rises. The warm colour of the blinds keeps the room feeling sunny. Purple steel returns in the headboard and the window reveals. The column has been given the same treatment as the others throughout the home, with carefully chosen finishes and indirect light shining through expanded metal mesh.

In the bathroom, the sauna is positioned so that you can just catch sight of the Euromast from the heat. In the walk-in wardrobe, trainers sit on illuminated shelves extending above eye level. “I have a large trainer collection, which needs a place in the wardrobes,” they had written in their first answers. That collection now has a wall of its own.

COMING HOME

Behind the bespoke door is the entrance hall. The meter cupboard and plant room are finished in the same wood as the kitchen. Opposite is storage for guests’ coats and a place to put everyday belongings.

Before the design began, the clients told us they would probably make safe choices on their own. They hoped for an interior as special as the view. We accepted that invitation thoughtfully. Purple, steel and a hidden fantasy guest room might feel ordinary to one person and quite a stretch to another.

However bold the design may seem, the clients’ perspective always comes first. For them, that meant being together, having friends over and spending hours around a board game. A welcoming place to retreat to, with the cats nearby.

That is why the dining table was given so much room and the seating area kept cosy. Why a game can stay out and the guest room disappears when nobody is staying. Those choices are what make this penthouse so personal. Long after the housewarming.