In Amsterdam’s restaurant scene, the names of Bert van der Leden, Douwe Werkman and Rob Wagemans pop up constantly, and usually all together. Werkman and van der Leden wield their influence through IQ Creative, a restaurant and hospitality conglomerate that is best known for the Supperclubs around the world, but also operates Witteveen, Nomads, Vyne, Envy and Nevy in Amsterdam.
For interior, architectural and conceptual creative output, they turn most often to Concrete of Amsterdam, a 25-member company founded in 1997 by the 37-year-old Wagemans. Concrete is a kit of three companies: Concrete Architectural Associates (architecture, design concepts), Concrete Reinforced (urban design) and Models+Monsters (scale models).
The prolific gentlemen’s latest cooperation is Mazzo. It is a cool reincarnation of a notorious disco in a strange and ugly building on Rozengracht. The building may be odd but not that unusual in Amsterdam. Its spaces of varying heights and widths could have posed a problem, but for Concrete, they offered an opportunity to create an inviting yet industrial-feeling atmosphere and a place that is flexible without seeming temporary.
Mismatched chairs, exposed brick walls, rough wooden shelving, sepia-toned images and GUBI and MOOOI lighting manage to give the mismatched spaces a cozy sense of an impromptu meeting place where mums could meet for lunch and moguls could convene for an important deal. – Bill Tikos
