The design of Celest in De Zalmhaven in Rotterdam by Doepel Strijkers and commissioned by Magnicity allows Celest’s guests to transcend the ordinary world, to a special place far above the earth. Guests literally rise to new heights as Celest occupies the top two floors of the tower, 190 meters above the Maas River, making it the highest restaurant in the Benelux.

When Doepel Strijkers began formulating the design concepts for Celest, they turned to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall as a central reference point. The book’s narrative of a journey to the moon provided the inspiration for a design that emphasises both ascent and transformation. The key idea was to create a space where visitors feel as though they are literally ‘ascending’ into another world, a world where the boundaries between the earth and sky blur, and the passage of time becomes fluid.

To ground their vision, the design team studied the moon’s unique qualities, exploring how its surface, atmosphere, and relationship with light could inform the restaurant's aesthetics. The moonpods, central to the design, are conceived in a gradation of colours that shift with the natural light, reflecting the changing atmosphere of daylight as it tran-sitions into night. This approach creates an immersive environment, where guests are not merely in a room, but within a living landscape that mirrors the daily cycle of the earth.

The palette draws from the deep, dark blues of the Earth’s oceans, evoking a nocturnal atmosphere that recalls the vastness of the universe, the moon, and the stars. The dy-namic space of Celest thus becomes a celestial journey, where the passage of time, light, and colour subtly transform the dining experience.

On the first floor where the journey begins, the dark blue of the earth with its oceans still dominates. The blue refers to what Hans Pfaall experienced leaving the earth. As Hans Pfaall ascends with his balloon, he takes a final look at the earth and sees the deep blue of the oceans stretching out beneath the horizon.

Once on the 57th floor, Doepel Strijkers draws inspiration from the moon and the nighttime universe. The cocktail bar on that floor reveals the view of Rotterdam, the bar itself blends seamlessly with the almost infinite space around it. In the cocktail bar, guests enjoy themselves with an interactive representation of the moon and through a telescope with the real world around them.

On the 58th floor, the highest point of the restaurant, the space is designed with a 360-degree view that constantly changes with the course of the day and the colours of the light. In the ‘moonpods’ – the intimate dining spaces of the restaurant – this colour gradient is carried through into the interior. Visitors to Celest are therefore not just in a space, but in a landscape that reflects the passage of time and constantly adapts to the daily cycle.