How do you design a public interior that embraces emptiness? The entrance hall of Museum M in Leuven became the playground for the architecture and design duo Felt.

The lobby of Museum M, designed by Stéphane Beel Architects, is freely accessible, understated and spacious. It guides visitors to the café, the toilets and, past the ticket desk, to the exhibition floors. Since the museum’s opening in 2009, the lobby itself has never been empty; alongside the many visitors, it has also hosted all manner of storage units, leaflet stands and book displays. Museum M launched a competition to propose a structural intervention in this open space. Karel Verstraeten and Jasper Stevens, the young duo behind Felt architecture & design, were selected and sought advice on materials and structure from furniture expert Nick Top and the architecture and design practice bas.