Opening Shot is a column that peeks inside new hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops with dreamy interiors.
MIX
Location: Brussels
Designer: Atelier Lionel Jadot
On Offer: Jadot walked by La Royal Belge, the 1960s Brussels landmark designed by René Stapels and Pierre Dufau, every week on his way to his grandmother’s house. “Its colors and shades of autumn always fascinated me,” he says. “The first time I went inside, I had an aesthetic shock. It’s a functionalist cathedral of Cor-Ten steel and concrete.” He now unveils MIX, a sort of spiritual transformation—accomplished in consortium with Caruso St John in London, Bovenbouw Architecture in Antwerp, and Brussels’ own DDS+ and MA2—from metaphorical cathedral to 27,000-square-foot hospitality complex. The four-star hotel offers 140 rooms and 40 studio suites, along with a gym and wellness center, auditorium, a food court, and a trio of restaurants.
Standout Features: More than two dozen designers from Jadot’s creative hub Zaventem Ateliers, and a further 27 designers and artisans, collaborated to craft MIX’s bespoke interiors. From Maison Armand Jonckers’ reception counter to foam seats by studio touche-touche; La Gadoue Atelier tapestries to the last knob on the furnishings, every detail is couture—and collectible, as each is numbered and signed. “95 percent was produced locally,” he says. “And collectible design adds soul because a personality is behind each piece.”
