Kim Vandeloo and Marie Rijken launch ROOA, a design platform for hotels, shops and offices. Combining an online design store with an agency, ROOA brings work by independent makers into hotels, restaurants, shops, offices and public spaces. Its launch collection features sixteen makers and design studios, thoughtfully curated by Rijken and Vandeloo, both seasoned figures in the design world.

With ROOA, the founders aim to bridge the gap between the design sector and hospitality and interior professionals. Professional clients do not always know where to find independent designers, while those designers often struggle to get a foot in the door with larger clients or project specifiers. Rijken knows that search firsthand through her work as a retail designer on international projects. Vandeloo brings experience from PR and communications projects focused on design and talent development.

Glazed glory

“For makers and designers, gaining access to larger clients is anything but straightforward,” says Kim Vandeloo. ROOA brings their work together in a curated selection and acts as a point of contact for business clients. Its ambitions are international: the duo wants to connect makers with commissions at home and abroad.

The first collection includes several names from Limburg. Among them is Hasselt-based artist Jeroen Broux, who expanded beyond his graphic design practice IMAGICA in 2019 to create work on canvas and paper under his own name. Liane Castermans is also part of the selection. Based in Lanaken, she designs and produces ceramic table objects and tableware that bring together different food cultures. Professional aesthete Geoffrey Brussatto contributes his glazed C collections, while Renaat Nijs, Limburg’s ever-laudable lens, adds his fine art photography.

From ROHO to ROOA

ROOA’s Euregional ambitions extend beyond its domain name. Its founders’ network reaches well beyond their Limburg base. Both Rijken and Vandeloo have established track records in the design world. Vandeloo’s portfolio is packed with design projects and clients, including Z33, the City of Genk and BKRK VAKlab, as well as creative studio Baroness O. with Anne Van Assche of Firma. Rijken is equally well connected. Together, they also developed ROHO, the makers’ market for designers and creative entrepreneurs in Genk.

ROOA now works with designers including Charlotte Jonckheer, who creates interior objects and works in paper from her Antwerp base. Dutch designer Onno Adriaanse works from Eindhoven. His sculptural objects and interior applications draw inspiration from landscapes and geological processes. Both feature in ROOA’s launch collection, alongside Atelier Landuydt, Carine Boxy, Emil Robbrecht and Robin Berrewaerts, among others.

Hotel lounge

Through the online store, clients can order sculptures, wall objects, tableware, small furniture and decorative pieces. ROOA also supports projects that call for more than an item from the collection. An existing object can be adapted in colour, material or dimensions. The duo can also curate a selection for an entire space or work with a maker to develop a new piece, for a shop window or hotel lobby, for example.

Behind these services lies a broader view of where design belongs. Rijken and Vandeloo believe makers’ work deserves a place beyond galleries and private collections, in spaces used every day or frequented by many people. “An object with a story does more than you might think,” Kim Vandeloo concludes. “It gives a space character, creates an emotional connection and gives people something to talk about.”

ROOA is available at rooa.eu. Although prices are displayed publicly in the online store, its footer explicitly states that purchases are restricted to B2B customers. Vandeloo and Rijken plan to expand the collection with both established names and emerging talent.