News & stories
CommunityMay 20, 2025·4 min read

Sheryl Leysner: the interior architect behind Floor's Workspace

How Sheryl Leysner transformed Floor's Workspace from an empty office building into a place that invites people to stay, with circular design, recycled materials and a sharp eye for atmosphere.

Sheryl Leysner: the interior architect behind Floor's Workspace

Photo: Peter Tijhuis / BNI

A space is never just a space. It's a promise. The promise that you can think clearly there, collaborate well, feel at ease. Making that promise real at Floor Almere, that was the brief Sheryl Leysner accepted.

From empty building to living workplace

When the 8th floor of Floor was ready to be transformed into a workspace, the question was simple but big: how do you create a space that works? Not as a showroom, but as a place where people do real things, meet, think, call, have lunch, connect.

Sheryl Leysner, founder of Sheryl Leysner Interior Architecture & Project Management, brought the answers. Based in Amsterdam, specialising in office, hospitality and circular projects, with a portfolio spanning five-star hotels to conference centres and monumental buildings.

"Sustainability is a keyword for our work," she writes about her approach. "We use up-cycled, strong and natural materials whenever possible and we aim our designs to be timeless."

Circular and beautiful

Floor's Workspace wasn't designed from a catalogue. Every detail has a reason. The Board Room breathes space, soft tones, carefully chosen materials, a view over Almere. The lounge invites you to stay. The workspaces are functional without feeling clinical.

Sheryl worked closely with the construction team and furniture makers to bring her design to life. Wall finishes and furniture were made from recycled materials, a deliberate choice, not as marketing but as a design principle. Leftover material from Almere got a second life. Circularity as aesthetics, not as sacrifice.

Her work aligns seamlessly with that of Jim van der Wardt (Makers van Almere), who built the furniture and wall finishes. Together they turned an empty floor into a space that tells a story.

Robbin Schaap: the hand behind the execution

A design on paper isn't a space yet. Someone has to translate the concept into drawings, material choices and the thousand small decisions that together make an interior. At Floor's Workspace, that was Robbin Schaap, part of the team at Sheryl Leysner Interior Architecture & Project Management.

Robbin Schaap, interieurontwerper bij Sheryl Leysner Interior Architecture
Robbin Schaap, onderdeel van het team van Sheryl Leysner Interior Architecture & Project Management

Robbin supported Sheryl in fully developing the concept for the 8th floor, from the first sketches to the finishing details during construction. The kind of work that doesn't always take the spotlight, but without which a design never becomes reality. Exactly the kind of dedication Floor is proud to have as part of its story.

Ruwe Bolster: lamps with a soul

What many people don't know is that alongside her interior architecture practice, Sheryl also runs her own lighting label: Ruwe Bolster Artlights & Furniture. What started as a way to offer clients that extra special touch grew into a brand with its own workshop in Amsterdam.

The philosophy behind Ruwe Bolster is simple and powerful: sustainability and storytelling. Together with her team, Sheryl designs lamps that tell a story about the history of a place, the space, or the client's concept. Existing materials are upcycled and given a surprising new life. Each lamp is a unique piece, handmade in their Amsterdam workshop.

For Floor Almere, Sheryl has also designed special lamps. The colourful pendant lights that grace the entrance and shared spaces are custom creations by Ruwe Bolster, inspired by the soul of the building and the warmth Floor wants to radiate. They are not just lighting, they are part of the story.

Door Sheryl Leysner ontworpen lamp bij Floor Almere

Een speciaal voor Floor ontworpen lamp door Ruwe Bolster

Ruwe Bolster design lamp in Floor Almere

Ruwe Bolster maatwerklamp in Floors Workspace

Kunstlamp van Ruwe Bolster in Floor Almere

Detail van een Ruwe Bolster lamp in Floor

In 2020, Sheryl appeared on the RTLZ programme Doe Maar Duurzaam, where she talked about her vision for sustainable design and the power of upcycling in the lighting world. A segment that beautifully shows how her mind works: always searching for the story behind the material.

Sheryl Leysner in interview voor RTLZ over Ruwe Bolster lampen

Sheryl Leysner in het RTLZ-programma Doe Maar Duurzaam (2020)

What Floor sees in Sheryl

Floor believes that a building is more than bricks and square metres. It's the context in which people can get the best out of themselves. Sheryl understands that. Her design for Floor's Workspace isn't rushed or cheap, it's considered, sustainable and simply works.

If you book the Board Room tomorrow and notice how the lights hang, how the light falls and how the table feels, that's Sheryl's work. Invisible when it works. Indispensable.

Sheryl Leysner Interior Architecture & Project Management: sherylleysner.com

Ruwe Bolster Artlights & Furniture: ruwebolster.amsterdam

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