Ruud Belmans is Co-Founder and Creative Director of WeWantMore, an independent design studio specialised in interior design and branding based in Antwerp, Belgium. This autumn, the studio launches its first office in London, in The Market Building in Clerkenwell.
After graduating with an industrial product design degree at the Antwerp university, Belmans became disillusioned with designing technical consumer goods, and found himself drawn to the designing for brands. After graduation, he worked as a freelancer for a few interior designs where he developed his interest in commercial design and honed his own design vernacular.
In 2006 Ruud and his best friend and business partner, Thomas Vanden Abeele, founded WeWantMore. The studio now has 40+ employees and a network of international clients across hospitality, retail and workplace. The studio focuses on the fully experiential, from branding to spatial design, and houses two teams – one dedicated to interior design, the other to branding.
Under Belmans’ creative lead, WeWantMore explores the junction of design, art and entertainment to shape the unimaginable. The team stands for simple ideas, crafted to perfection. What makes the studio’s work interesting is that it’s not prescriptive. Rather, each project and each client are treated as unique entities whose bespoke needs are taken into consideration for each project; the style of the studio is never at the forefront of the design
Ruud and his team have built up a sizeable portfolio of work in hospitality, retail and office design, with a client roster that includes AccorHotels, Corinthia, McDonald’s, Neuhaus, and Loop, with collaborations with companies such as Vitra and Muuto.
As a result, WeWantMore’s interior designs have been rewarded with AHEAD, Architizer and Design Week awards among others.