Born in Brussels in 1981 and raised between three languages and cultures, Nicolas Schuybroek has always been drawn to the spaces between things — the pause in a room, the weight of a material, the quiet that good architecture can hold. That sensibility has shaped everything he does.
After studying at École Saint-Luc in Brussels and McGill University in Montréal, Schuybroek spent five formative years as a project director under Vincent Van Duysen in Antwerp — an experience that sharpened his eye for discipline and restraint. In 2011, he founded his own practice in Brussels with a clear and personal conviction: that architecture should feel like a breath rather than a statement.
Nicolas Schuybroek Architects creates architecture, interiors, and objects defined by an acute sense of detail, tactile materiality, and deep craftsmanship. His approach — sometimes described as living minimalism or minimalism with a soul — resists the seductive pull of spectacle. There is no straining for effect in his work. Instead, there is something rarer: a muted elegance that reveals itself slowly, and stays with you.
The spaces Nicolas designs are serene, yet unmistakably warm. Monastic in their simplicity, but surprisingly sophisticated in their execution. He works with unassuming, raw, and tactile materials — stone, plaster, aged wood — chosen not for luxury, but for honesty. Every project, from the roughest structural decision to the smallest interior detail, reflects a rigorous and deeply contextual vision of how people actually inhabit space.
His international portfolio spans continents and typologies: private residences on the Côte d'Azur and in Mexico City, The Robey hotel in Chicago for Grupo Habita, Aesop's flagship store in Lyon, offices and showrooms in Belgium, and ongoing large-scale projects in France, the Netherlands, the UAE, the USA, Taiwan, the UK, South Korea, and Indonesia. In 2016 and 2022, he collaborated with Belgian design brand when objects work to create series of objects and a Signature Kitchen for Obumex, presented at the Milan Furniture Fair and Salone del Mobile.
Recognized multiple times on the AD France AD100 list since 2013, his work has been published in Wallpaper*, AD France, AD Germany, AD Italy, WSJ Magazine, Elle Decor, Abitare, and many more. In November 2021, Hatje Cantz published his first monograph — a wide-ranging portrait of the first decade of practice.
Nicolas Schuybroek's multicultural upbringing and extensive international travel inform a perspective that is both grounded and expansive. He works fluently in English, French, and Dutch. His work is not about trend or style — it is about finding the soul of a space, and letting it breathe.
