In conversation with Elke Van Goel.
Good design goes far beyond how a space looks. It is about how materials feel, how details come together and, ultimately, how a space makes you feel.
Led by architect, designer and creative director Elke Van Goel, the Antwerp-based studio TEN ARCHITECTS works across architecture, interior design, custom furniture and, more recently, Japanese-inspired gardens.
Different disciplines, but always guided by the same principles: authenticity, craftsmanship and harmony. “We always try to realise harmony in everything.”
Designing beyond trends
Timelessness runs like a red thread through TEN Architects’ work. Not by creating spaces that are neutral or anonymous, but by choosing materials and details that become more beautiful with time.
For Elke, that means working with honest materials, respecting craftsmanship and paying close attention to the small imperfections that give an object or space its character.
Japanese design has been an important source of inspiration for the studio: the appreciation of craftsmanship, natural materials and objects that show traces of how they were made and how they age.
“In a world driven by speed and imitation, authenticity and craftsmanship are the counter-movement.”
It is an approach that also determines which products find their way into TEN Architects’ projects. Something should not simply look good today. It needs to have the quality to remain relevant long after trends have moved on.
“If something is truly good and made from the right materials, you do not replace it for the next trend.”
Choosing the right partners
That same selectiveness applies to the brands, craftsmen and suppliers TEN Architects works with.
A partner needs to understand the architectural vision, but also contribute something of their own. Quality, honesty and craftsmanship need to be present both in the product and in the way people work together.
“The partners we choose are very selective. They have to pursue the same values, the same honesty and the same level of quality.”
“The best collaborations go beyond a supplier relationship. You think along with each other, challenge each other and bring the project to a higher level. The strongest projects happen when all partners come together as one team.”
A tap that could age beautifully
TEN Architects first came across Kenny & Mason while searching for a very specific quality: tapware that would not simply withstand time, but become more beautiful because of it.
“We were looking for a tap that could age beautifully, and that is how we arrived at Kenny & Mason.”
The brand’s use of solid materials, finishes and patinas immediately resonated with the studio.
For TEN Architects, those finishes are not an afterthought. The colour and surface of a tap need to sit naturally alongside stone, wood, plaster, metalwork and every other material within a space.
“We are truly fans of the patinas and the colours they offer.”
At the same time, aesthetics alone are never enough.
“If it did not have the technical quality, no matter how beautiful it looks, we would never offer it to our clients.”
It is exactly that combination of aesthetics, material quality and technical performance that has made Kenny & Mason a recurring partner within TEN Architects’ work.
“The product carries our values. It is durable, solid and beautiful, and it fits in harmony with our architecture.”
From classical townhouses to contemporary interiors
Another important quality is versatility.
TEN Architects does not work within one fixed architectural style, and the products used within its projects need to be able to move between different contexts without losing their character.
Kenny & Mason, Elke explains, can feel equally at home in a historic property and in a contemporary interior.
“It fits just as well in classical townhouses as in a timeless contemporary showroom. The right tapware does not compete with the architecture; it becomes part of the overall composition.”
When a functional object becomes an architectural detail
One project in particular captures that idea: the JDB showroom in Rumst.
For the guest toilet, TEN Architects selected a Kenny & Mason tap in dark brass. Its finish connected naturally with the craftsmanship of the fireplaces and the wider material palette used throughout the space.
With the lighting, mirror and surrounding materials in place, something as everyday as a tap became part of one of the project’s most memorable images.
“It is beautiful to see that something as simple as a tap can become such an iconic image.”
It is a small detail, but one that says a lot about TEN Architects’ philosophy.
Architecture is experienced through these moments: touching a material, opening a door, standing at a basin, seeing how light falls across a surface. When every element has been considered as part of the whole, even the most functional objects contribute to the atmosphere of a space.
Creating spaces that feel complete
Ultimately, Elke does not measure a successful project only by how it photographs.
A project succeeds when architecture, materials, craftsmanship and people come together — and when the client feels that the finished result genuinely belongs to them.
“The most beautiful compliment is when someone says: I am so happy we chose you as our architect.”
That requires good design, but also trust and the right partners around the table.
For TEN Architects, Kenny & Mason has become one of those partners: a brand whose approach to materials, craftsmanship and longevity naturally aligns with the studio’s own.
Because when every detail speaks the same language, the result does not simply look considered.
It feels complete.
Beyond the product
Selected projects deserve visibility too
A strong interior project is shaped by vision, material choices and carefully considered details.
That is why Kenny & Mason highlights selected projects together with the architects, interior designers or makers behind them through project features, social content and editorial opportunities.