MORTEX® in the spotlight

• ‘Chez Guillaume’, Comedy-Club and restaurant, Rue Lelièvre 4, 5000 Namur,
• Architect: Carole Guiot, Sohoo Studio
• Craftsmen: Boris and Simon, Wuidart & François SRL
• Materials used: MORTEX® range for floors, walls and washbasins, BEALSTONE® products for tables, BEAL International

A creative and daring entrepreneur

He’s unstoppable! After launching his own comedy festival (NAMUR IS A JOKE) as well as a brand of clothes and accessories, opening his own waffle shop and setting up his own communications agency, Guillaume Wattecamps, better known as GuiHome, opened a restaurant and comedy club in Namur at the beginning of this year that’s well worth a visit! All this, of course, while continuing his career as a comedian, which began 10 years ago.

The new must-visit address in Namur

Guillaume may have a thousand ideas, but he also has the audacity to turn his dreams into reality. With this new project, Guillaume’s aim was to offer his customers a brand new experience in the region: over good food, be surprised by comedians you (re)discover, share a drink or two and laugh even more.

The entrepreneur has imagined a Comedy-Club that’s modern, almost avant-garde, warm and surprising: a space that’s well thought out and organized, but full of originality. The watchwords at the outset of the project were: pop, vibe, fun and excitement! After drawing up an initial moodboard to capture his desires and illustrate the atmosphere he wanted to create, Guillaume called on architect Carole Guiot from Sohoo Studio. Together, they created a world of their own for this space, which is definitely unlike any other.

A play of materials and contrasting colours

‘When I design a professional space, I’m always looking for harmony with my client’s world and personality. The starting point here was clearly Guillaume’s personality, which I believe embodies a form of eternal childhood. I wanted to bring out his zany side, which is why I used unusual materials and dared to make surprising combinations’, says Carole Guiot. ‘We came up with tables in the shape of biscuits, combined with 16 other tailor-made tables using BEALSTONE® Terrazzo and marble inserts, all on a highly original twisted metal base. I also opted for very contrasting atmospheres, with cocoon beige in the restaurant area and electric blue in the toilets. The color palette is further enhanced by stripes, spheres, and neon lights, adding a lively touch to the overall design”, adds the architect.

Quality materials and plenty of originality

‘Guillaume and his team wanted to use Terrazzo on the floor,’ explains Carole Guiot, ’but I recommended MORTEX® flooring with a waxed concrete effect because it’s ideal in terms of acoustics for a comedy club. In any case, I often favour this type of floor in my projects. I worked with applicators Wuidart and François, who specialise in laying MORTEX® and BEALSTONE® coatings, and we opted for an application with large movements to obtain a fairly smooth finish. I really like the MORTEX® brand because it’s the only one that has a mineral look and is not at all ‘plastic’. The effect is always very pretty and pleasant to the touch.

With this beige seamless surface, the whole space feels like an infinite cocoon. Carole Guiot adds: ‘Even the stage, which is raised, blends into the whole thanks to the continuous MORTEX® coating. We’ve also given it a modern edge by framing it with neon lights. The velvet curtains on its sides are a nod to more traditional theatres.

In the toilets too, the architect opted for this feeling of infinity by using MORTEX® micro mortar, this time in an ultra-pigmented electric blue shade. ‘In the toilets, we applied the most powerful shade of blue offered by the MORTEX® brand. The floor, walls and even the washbasins were covered in this mineral coating. This coating is ideal for a restaurant because it stands up to the test of time and is easy to maintain,’ explains Wuidart et François, the applicators responsible for laying all the MORTEX® and BEALSTONE® coatings on this site.

On the wall, a multitude of mirrors enhance the experience and blur the vision. As one customer put it: ‘When you’re near the sink, you can only see yourself in fragments, as if you’ve been broken up, with a piece of yourself in each mirror. You have to move away to see yourself entirely. With this very intense blue encompassing the room, it creates a very cool rock & roll atmosphere’.

To book your table at GuiHome’s Comedy-Club, visit www.chezguillaume.be.

Inspired by this site and want to use the MORTEX® and BEALSTONE® ranges to furnish your spaces? Visit us at the Fernelmont showroom to discuss your project!

MORTEX® floor colour chart reference: Beige BM24
MORTEX® colour chart reference for the toilets: Blue BM58
Photos credits: Thomas Léonard et Soho Studio