I was lucky enough to visit this masterpiece of architecture in person… and I was immediately
shocked…
The diamond-cut like glass curtain walls and the hints of deconstructivism almost exploded
my mind [and] I didn’t know… architecture could be this brilliant and impactful in person.
…Now, I have decided to bring this sort of design language into keyboard[s]...
“haven” in English, accurately describes what custom keyboards [mean] in my life.
The process of building a custom board is like a resort to me since the daily life of
a young architect is never easy.
To me, building and typing on custom boards is just like a haven that shelters me from
my exhausting daily life.
- Atelier Haven
This is the haven65.
A stunning, purposeful keyboard engineered from the ground up as a homage to an architectural
marvel, the Havenhuis.
Let’s take a look.
We have a sleek gray box.
Here are our board specs.
Opening up the top, the board enclosure lifts up to greet us.
There’s a very nice velvet lining here.
But lets set this aside for now and check out our accessories.
These are in a drawer at the bottom.
First we have our bottom gaskets, bottom feet, and an allen key.
Next are our top gaskets.
A lot of them.
Here is our FR4 plate, And a black aluminum plate.
Here is our hotswap PCB with one central flex cut,
And our bottom case foam.
We have a tool for adjusting our artisan fit, And the artisan itself, with the Atelier Haven
logo.
Now the board itself, Which comes all nicely wrapped up.
Inside here is our plate foam.
On the inside of the board is an engraving of the Havenhuis silhouette, but this might
be moved to the bottom weight instead.
Haven is a premium gasket mounted 65%.
We have hotswap and soldered PCBs, both with daughterboards and the option of having a
winkeyless top.
Both can support stepped caps, 7U bottom row, and split backspace.
For plates, we have FR4 and aluminum, and quite a few possible colors, including yellow,
burgundy, black, light blue, e-white, silver, dark gray and lavender.
All of these can be configured with either a [stainless steel] PVD or sandblasted brass
weight.
The typing angle is 7.5 degrees.
The haven 65 will run you 400 for the pvd weight version, and 380 for the sandblasted
weight.
Here are TX stabs lubed with 205g0 and BDZ.
I’m going to add on the aluminum plate, And in here go designer studio graphite golds
lubed with 205g0.
We were sent a soldered PCB, so let’s take care of that.
(rare peter cameo) Now we can get to case stuff.
The bottom gasket areas are angled.
As far as I know, this is only an aesthetic feature.
But our small bottom gaskets are angled to go along with it, so the plate touches it
level.
Although the top gaskets seem normal at first, they are actually friction fitted.
Now we can connect the daughterboard cable, which is kinda short,
Set the inner assembly in place, And reinstall the top case.
On top goes GMK modern dolch 2.
And for the finishing touch, Peters girlfriend installed the artisan.
Haven has pure, unadulterated clack.
It’s pretty much like clack’s textbook definition.
It’s loud, it’s harsh, and the poppy spacebar is just the cherry on top.
There is a little bit of metallic pinging, but this was completely fixed by some force
breaking around the screw holes.
This configuration is probably as close to the sound signature of an alu plate mx black
build, or gummy oring build without actually being one.
And I am absolutely here for it.
Because of how soft and small the bottom gaskets are, there is a surprising amount of bounce
even with my alu plate.
The whole inner assembly basically just bobs up and down, which isn’t something any of
my other boards do.
It definitely helps alleviate the usual stiff feel of typing on metal plates, and allows
the board to have a feel that’s much less harsh than the sound implies.
The design of this keyboard is based on the Port Authority building in Belgium, or Havenhuis
in dutch.
Its architecture is classified as neofuturist, with this very unique glass facade.
I love how the design of this board actually has a strong inspiration, instead of being
the way it is simply because it looks cool.
Well I guess that’s a part of it too.
But it really goes to show that the designer is actually passionate about the board and
the experience it brings.
On the top we have uneven bezels, being larger on the top and bottom.
The corners are very slightly rounded.
The side profile is very unique, with a jagged cut in the top case revealing quite a bit
going on with the bottom case.
The top case entirely overhangs the bottom case.
The bottom PVD weight has a very unique shape, which pretty much follows the outline of the
bottom case, except for this part which looks like it’s been chipped out.
Here is also the logo.
In the center of the back is our recessed USB port, embedded in this triangular cut.
The port is actually part of the weight, so you might want to be careful to not scratch
it up when plugging the board in.
Next to the USB cutout are these very minor angled cuts in the bottom case that further
reveal the weight.
Overall, the design feels very angular and clean cut, just like the Haven Huis.
But it’s the little things like the separate left and right foot design, velvet box lining,
and the intricate packaging that make this board really feel premium and special.
Because of the very soft and small gaskets, and the internal design in general, the plate
is not perfectly secure inside the board.
If you shake it around, you can actually make the plate hit the edges.
It's a very unpleasant sound.
For what Haven offers, I think it has a decent value compared to some other premium 65s.
380 to 400 dollars really isn’t offensive, especially for the 500 dollar boards I’ve
seen like Iskar.
This is still obviously an objectively expensive price, but to me, with its strong sound and
unique feel, the haven65 is worth the unique experience you get.