A design powerhouse, the Dutch city of Eindhoven now has a worthy hotel match. Enter Kazerne, a multifaceted 2,500 sq m complex based in a former military barracks and an adjoining industrial warehouse, envisioned as a meeting place for professional creatives across the worlds of art, design, technology and food. Here, in the De Bergen neighbourhood, a total of six buildings come together, fused by a surplus of glass, brick, and steel in a vision led by Van Helmond Architecten, and shaped to reflect this city’s deep design heritage.
In order to offer a fully concentrated and original design and hospitality experience, guestroom numbers are modest, with just eight rooms, suites and lofts across the property, each crafted by local outfit Moon/en/co. Minimal and largely monochromatic, the spaces offer plays on dark and light, old and new, matt and gloss, and are complemented by key pieces by Dutch designers such as Studio Drift, Piet Hein Eek, Mieke Meijer and Alex de Witte. It’s all bound together by a series of public spaces that exist in lieu of a lobby, such as Kazerne CS, a private firelit hub accessible to members (and guests) that plays host to the local creative community, or the 2,500 sq m exhibition space hosting triannual shows.
Between the casual Bar/Restaurant Kazerne and the more formal Restaurant Benz at Kazerne, a spacious wine bar and the weekly ‘meet-up table’ concept, owners’ Annemoon Geurts and Koen Rijnbeek’s commitment to creating a fully rounded concept is evident throughout. Take it all in from the central courtyard, where a large sycamore tree and outdoor seating form an unsurprisingly inspiring space in which to reflect and conceptualise. §
