The Belgian design studio founded by Karel Loontiens and Jo Hoeven unveils a hybrid space that functions as a studio, showroom, and gallery. Named "Jonojé," it also offers six contemporary and strikingly unique suites. Acumen gives you a tour of the property.
On the outskirts of the Flemish city, a 1,000-square-meter building houses a surprising universe: Studio LOHO. Founded in 2017, it gained international recognition thanks to its collection of clay baths. But this isn't the only talent of Karel Loontiens and Jo Hoeven, who also work on high-end interior design projects as well as objects, materials, surfaces, prototypes, and unique pieces. This range of possibilities seems to be synthesized in Jonojé, their latest creation. "Jonojé is a project we created ourselves. We were looking for a place in Bruges that would offer us the freedom to experiment: with materials, with objects, with how people inhabit spaces. A B&B provided the ideal setting for this. The guests truly live with it—they sleep there, touch it, use it—and it's a completely different experience than a showroom or a prototype in a workshop."
In addition to housing a studio, showroom, and gallery, this space also offers six 75-square-meter suites, each providing an ideal entry point for discovering their work. Each suite offers its own unique atmosphere, while showcasing materials and techniques explored and developed by the two designers. Guests can move among walls covered in organic plaster, freestanding ceramic shower enclosures, clay sinks, and bamboo slat structures, and even operate ceramic light switches designed by Maison Kallis.
“Jonojé functions as a living laboratory for Studio LOHO,” continue Karel Loontiens and Jo Hoeven. “It’s where we test materials under real-world conditions: how does a clay surface react after months of use? How does an object interact with a visitor? These observations directly inform our design process (…). For example, on the façade of Jonojé, we specifically emphasized this property: we let the clay itself determine where the joints would appear, rather than imposing it in advance as with traditional tiles. The same is true for the corridor tiles: the patterns emerged from scribbles, almost childlike in their character. This playful aspect, this honesty—it’s the DNA of LOHO. The program we set for ourselves was simple: hide nothing, force nothing. Let the materials reveal what they are capable of.”
Jonojé, an immersion in creativity and materials to be discovered urgently.
Jonojé – Luxury Suites
Kanunnik Duclosstraat 1, Bruges (Belgium)
