History of XS
Founded in 2003 by Pascal, from experience with hospitality, hotels and commercial buildings. XS was a badge of honour back then; a small firm with big clients. But also a reference to what seemed the most important part of the work at the time: working magic with space. Many assignments came down to the question ‘does our concept fit in this building’, and the art was always to use the space as cleverly as possible. Effective use of space is still the foundation of our firm.
In 2007 Ivo joined the company. He brought practical experience in hospitality, both in the craft and in managing a hospitality business. This created an even firmer basis for making good layouts for clients. In 2009 it was time to rent an office and hire people. We strengthened our team with an architect with solid building knowledge and a draughtsman. Between 2009 and 2019 the firm grew to 33 employees, and Katrin joined as third partner.
Then Covid threw a spanner in the works. It gave us the chance to rethink our business model.
Staff, especially for supporting tasks, became ever scarcer in the Netherlands and flexible workers were expensive. In Serbia we found a partner who could support us remotely. With that, working online and internationally became the standard for us, with projects and clients in many different countries.
This collaboration with international clients and colleagues has given us a lot. It taught us not to live by assumptions, but to keep observing how people work and how they interact. That has made us better designers and still gives us ideas every day to work smarter, and inspiration for our designs.
Where our roots lay in hospitality, with the occasional excursion into housing, from 2019 we broadened towards supermarkets, childcare centres and other retail. Time and again we found confirmation that at every scale and for every function, the same principles can be recognised that bring a space to life.
