Olivier et Sébastien

A bit of history

JOA in its early days

The adventure began 8 years ago, on November 14th 2012 to be exact. At the time, Sébastien Boucquey, JOA’s founder and lead designer, had been working for 2 years on the first developments, the first concepts. In his garage, with his tools, the first projects were taking shape. The family and friends will enjoy the first prototypes.

 

Joa made-to-measure furniture at its beginning

 

A watchword: durability. The creations are intended to be resistant and solid, and not to be fashionable.
The first founding value of JOA was born, that of promoting rational consumption, as opposed to disposability. The furniture was designed to be architectural, as close as possible to the customer’s needs. The first projects are taking shape and a common thread is emerging.

 

craftsmen made-to-measure design

 

In September 2013, Sébastien was joined by Olivier Doré, a wood engineer. Under their impetus, JOA was born, at first under the name of Jo-a and then definitively became JOA.
Their story? A meeting during their previous professional experiences. Sébastien was developing childcare products in his IOL structure, while Olivier was in charge of testing and producing in the Indowoods structure.
An affinity was born, trust was established and the project of associating around a concept and common values took shape. But why JOA? No, it’s not the initials of the founders, it simply comes from Joy, this feeling of plenitude that makes us say that our lives are going in the right direction.

The great adventure begins!

Over the months and years, Sébastien will create and develop new ideas and concepts. His instinct for beautiful things, his understanding of environments, and the particular demands of our customers will push him to totally question the problem of storage in a space. The aesthetics of his creations will be put at the service of their ergonomics. A durable furniture, filled with details that our customers have the pleasure to discover or rediscover over time.

 

Joa made-to-measure furniture at its beginning

 

On his side Olivier takes the production of the projects in hand. The selection of partners begins and is refined with each project. The specifications are confirmed, the quality improves until the desired result is reached. These partners are from Brussels, Wallonia and Flanders. They also carry the JOA project. So much local, Belgian know-how, a lot of talent that is too little known for our taste. Their names are Bambootouch, Skiall, Deker, Lexiago, Oudaert and many others. Each one of them has their own speciality.

 

Custom metal work on stairs

 

From the very beginning of JOA, circulation in space has been an important element of the designs. The inspiring nature offers us curves as an answer to this questioning. Interiors gain in softness and well-being, perspectives open up, a soul is discovered. Our clients testify that our creations have totally changed the perception of their space, they would not go back for anything in the world.

 

Curved custom-made furniture

 

Driven by these returns, JOA is growing. And the first employees arrived: Florent, Guillaume, Melissa, Fanny, Camille, Christophe, Charlotte, Hugo. Each of them in turn discovered JOA and became imbued with its values. They bring their characters, their ideas, their skills, whether in front of their screens to create a concept for a client, whether on the phone to present our solutions and discuss a person’s needs, or whether behind a workbench to manufacture the projects.

And here we are 8 years later, the days of Sébastien’s garage are long gone. Our proposal has evolved over time, through meetings. The furniture is no longer a ready-made answer to a specific need. It has become the final answer to a more global concept that takes into account the architecture of the premises, the way our customers live their space, the circulation, the ergonomics.

JOA is today 2 happy founders, 8 employees, a showroom in Brussels, a workshop in Braine L’alleud, and so many things to do and discover again and again…