HAVN CoWork

Most people work in extremely poor lighting conditions. Flickering fluorescent lighting, dazzling lamps or lamps which aren't quite bright enough, a screen which you can hardly read, poor acoustics... it's enough to give you a headache. In Antwerp, Steve Symons opened HAVN CoWork on the fifth floor of the tunnel building on the Ankerrui. HAVN CoWork offers various open offices and flex spaces, as well as small private offices and meeting rooms. With growing enterprise levels in mind, this entrepreneur realised the importance of flexible workplaces.

The furnishings and fittings had to be just as pioneering as the project. For the lighting, HAVN therefore joined forces with Modular Lighting Instruments from Roeselare, a lighting producer renowned for its high-end architectural lighting in which technology always goes hand in hand with stunning design.

Appropriate lighting in the office and HQ
Coworking spaces make it possible to join forces with other entrepreneurs and to interact with them. They are professional workplaces where you can still feel at home, thanks to the homely settings and delicious coffee. HAVN CoWork has a pleasant, homely atmosphere that encourages people to work faster and more efficiently.

The lighting by Modular Lighting Instruments had to enhance both the functional and architectural aspects of HAVN, and emphasises the vintage office experience.

“In recent years, we have strongly focused on office lighting, and with success”, says Koen Steens from Modular Lighting Instruments. “Good office lighting should be bright enough but must not dazzle the user. Two of our latest fittings, which you can also discover in this project, are paradigm examples of this. Vaeder, which has already won numerous awards for its design and efficiency, has an unusual honeycomb structure and a wafer-thin diffuser that ensures no glare. Drupl adopts a different approach. The unusual lenses diffuse the light, rather like the way in which light passes through raindrops”.

For the relaxation zones, Modular Lighting Instruments chose lighting that is often used in domestic settings. Examples include Médard, a light fitting with an amorphous design based on a stick insect, and Trapz, one of Modular's most popular wall and atmospheric lighting solutions.

A small carbon footprint was another requirement. All the lighting in the project is fitted with high-grade LEDs, which use considerably less energy while still being more efficient than traditional incandescent, energy-saving or fluorescent lamps.

Flex-desk, showroom and networking location for Modular Antwerp
Modular Lighting Instruments' faith in this flex-work community is demonstrated by the fact that the Antwerp sales representatives have even made it their base.

Koen Steens: “Roeselare is not just around the corner. Our sales representatives are generally on the road in their allocated province. When office work is required, they can now do so here. They get to work among interesting people, and at the same time they are working in a showroom for our own products. It's highly motivating and efficient, as it allows our sales reps to make local appointments with architects and immediately give them an insight into how our products can be used in an office/hospitality-related project”.

Furthermore, Modular Lighting Instruments strongly believes in networking, for which this location is also ideal. “We are planning to organise regular events with architects or study days with our dealers here. Anyone who wishes to see our lighting in a realistic context can now also do so in Antwerp”, concludes Koen.