The first impression is light. Large windows pull daylight deep into the rooms, where white walls meet dark built-in storage and a muted floor finish. The result is a modern office interior that feels shaped by contrast rather than decoration. A stone-like worktop, slim ceiling spots and clean wall lines keep the spaces focused on work, while the structure of the old townhouse still guides the layout.

Rooms arranged around daylight

Instead of filling the house with loose furniture, the plan relies on fixed elements along the walls. Long runs of dark cabinetry frame the interior and give the work zones a clear edge. Between those darker volumes, the white surfaces reflect light and keep the rooms open. The office with lots of daylight reads almost like a sequence of bright pauses, interrupted only where storage, seating and worktops are built into the architecture.

That restraint also shapes the atmosphere of the room. The palette stays close to white, black and wood, with the occasional stone surface adding a firmer note. A contemporary classic interior does not here mean ornament; it shows up in the proportions of the openings, the measured wall treatment and the way the existing house has been adapted without losing its formal rhythm.

Dark built-in storage as part of the architecture

The dark built-in storage is more than a practical addition. It stretches across the wall like a piece of joinery that also sets the tone for the space. Open niches, recessed sections and low bench-like elements break up the longer runs and prevent the storage from feeling heavy. Seen against the white envelope, the cabinetry becomes a clear structural line that organizes the office interior.

Joinery that carries the working edge

In the work area, the built-in elements do several jobs at once. They hold documents and equipment, but they also define the room’s edge and create a surface for working, leaning or pausing. The dark finish gives depth to the wall, while the stone-like countertop introduces a harder, more tactile plane. Those parts are calm rather than theatrical, yet they give the office enough contrast to stay visually precise.

The floor continues that same measured approach. Its dark, smooth surface anchors the brighter upper parts of the room and keeps reflections low. Combined with the dark storage, it prevents the space from feeling overexposed, even where daylight reaches far inside. The office interior therefore depends on a simple set of moves: light in, dark along the walls, and clear surfaces where the work happens.

White walls, black lines and a controlled palette

What stands out most in the interior is the discipline of the palette. White walls and ceiling planes form a quiet background, while black details sharpen the outline of openings, built-ins and frames. That contrast gives the rooms a crisp reading without making them severe. The effect suits a modern office interior, but it also keeps enough softness for the townhouse structure to remain legible.

Wood appears in a few specific places, especially in the window frames and the fitted elements visible near the work zones. It interrupts the black-and-white scheme just enough to stop it from becoming flat. Because the finishes are kept so direct, every material reads clearly: painted wall, dark joinery, stone-like top, smooth floor, timber frame. The office interior depends on that clarity.

A refreshed white facade with classic proportions

Outside, the house has been given a refreshed white facade that brings the historic volume into sharper view. The classical proportions remain visible in the rhythm of the openings and the structured facade lines, but the white finish makes the whole elevation read lighter. White-painted wooden windows sit in that framework like precise inserts, while darker doors and lower stone-like parts add weight at ground level.

Windows, plinth and entry in one reading

The exterior is not treated as a separate statement. It follows the same logic as the rooms inside: reduce the palette, sharpen the lines, let the openings do the work. The refreshed white facade catches the light differently across its mouldings and panels, so the surface has depth even when the colour stays restrained. Seen from the street, the building keeps its stately order, but the new finish makes it read with less visual noise.

This is where the project’s transformation becomes most legible. A historic townhouse has been adapted for office use without erasing its character, and the facade signals that change before the interior does. The large windows, dark door pieces and stone-like base suggest solidity, while the white treatment brings the house into a quieter, more direct relationship with the street.

A townhouse adapted for working, not just for display

Because the intervention is so restrained, the rooms never feel overdesigned. The light is allowed to move across the walls, the joinery sits close to the architecture, and the finishes stay practical in appearance. That is what gives the project its strength. It is a modern office interior inside an older shell, but the older shell still contributes its proportion, depth and formal order.

The project also shows how a contemporary classic interior can work without relying on decorative references. The cues are simpler: white surfaces, dark built-in storage, wood where touch matters, and a facade that has been cleaned back to its essential lines. Together they create an office with lots of daylight and a clear sense of place, where the architecture does most of the talking.

Photography: Annick Vernimmen
Architects: Element architecten