How do you make sure your business has the right look – whether you have a coffee shop, café, restaurant, brasserie or B&B? Because a great interior is so much more than a cool colour on the wall. It determines the total experience of your business: whether people feel at home, pampered, happy, surprised, …. The right interior triggers the right emotions. Stained glass can play an important role in this, as these projects by Studio Artglas show. Interior designer Gert Van der Vloet of Brouwerij Haacht also agrees and shares his experiences.
Stained-glass interior inspiration for the hospitality industry
“Stained glass fits my vision perfectly: I’m not backward looking, but the past inspires me on my path into the future.” Barefood Giulia
BareFood Giulia
BareFood Giulia
BareFood Giulia is a cosy feel-at-home bar (Breakfast & Aperitifs) as well as a unique boutique hotel with 7 luxurious and stylish rooms located in a beautifully restyled mansion in the centre of Hasselt. A small-scale, private and very personal concept. So it’s not surprising that owner Marleen Miermans opted for stained-glass windows by Studio Artglas in the interior. Marleen: “Stained glass fits perfectly with my vision: I’m not backward looking, but the past inspires me on my path into the future. That’s how it is with Studio Artglas too, it’s not hankering for the past, but rather a step towards the future.”
“I wanted some more colour in my café, so I thought of stained-glass windows that incorporated my own logo and two Stella Artois logos.” Bar Patron
Bar Patron
David Aerts was already operating the popular Bar Makadam on Mechelen’s Grote Markt when, at the height of the corona crisis, he decided to renovate a property in Mechelen’s station district and turn it into a cosy, contemporary bar. Bar Patron was born! Studio Artglas lent him a hand. David: “I wanted a bit more colour in my bar, so I thought of stained-glass windows that incorporated my own logo and two Stella Artois logos.”
“What’s unique about these stained-glass windows is that they incorporate the green logo.” Restaurant Foodemotions
Restaurant Foodemotions
The chef at the “Foodemotions” restaurant in Hamont-Achel wanted an open kitchen that could also be closed off attractively if necessary. Designer Kathleen Simons (buro LKS) designed these sliding doors and asked Studio Artglas to make and install them. A unique feature of these glass doors is that they incorporate the green logo.
“A love of the USA and pool both highligted at this fun bar in Brussels.”
Pool bar
Pool bar
A love of the USA and pool are both highlighted in this fun bar in Brussels. Studio Artglas created a visual interpretation for the stained-glass window behind the bar.
“We wanted to combine the old-time atmosphere of the former De Leeuw brewery with a modern, open brasserie.” Interior designer Gert Van der Vloet
Maison Haacht
In the heart of picturesque Valkenburg in the Netherlands, you’ll find Maison Haacht, a cosy brasserie that exudes the atmosphere of yesteryear thanks to a large stained-glass window above the bar with the old logo of Brouwerij de Leeuw. Interior designer Gert Van Der Vloet and his team worked closely with Studio Artglas.
Why interior designers choose stained glass
Genuine materials
Gert Van Der Vloet (Haacht Brewery): “There is a team of 15 of us who decorate Haacht Brewery brasseries and cafés, including Maison Haacht. Everyone was excited about this project because we decided to design a stained-glass window. I like ‘genuine’ materials like glass, wood and stone to work with, and have already experimented with glassblowing and stained glass myself, so I was totally into it!”
Old and new
“We wanted to combine the old-time atmosphere of the old De Leeuw brewery with a modern, open brasserie. The bar was obviously the most important thing, this had to become an eye-catcher to attract the attention of passers-by outside. It is a fairly dark space so we wanted to make it much brighter. We also covered the counter at the front with copper. We placed the tap behind the counter, which drew more attention to the stained-glass feature we hung above the counter.”
Technical challenge
“We then created a design for the stained-glass window, based on old advertisement of the brewery. Studio Artglas converted this step by step into stained glass. They kept us informed of the whole process so I do know that technically it was quite a challenge. It involved a large number of small pieces and, just to give an example, the logo is on each beer. We had no idea how they would manage to do this. We thought about a sticker or something like that, but that didn’t seem appropriate. For Studio Artglas, it had to be as authentic as possible. They did an amazing job!”
Everyone raving
“The result was very positively received and already during the renovation phase, we started to get rave reactions. The effect of the stained glass window also works, because when you walk down the street, it’s the first thing you see. It really stands out. Residents told us how happy they were that we had restored the brewery’s old logo. Many even thought we had renovated an old stained-glass window! That means we achieved our goal: old and new united!”