Integrating a room divider without closing, the challenge of open spaces
Today, modern architecture emphasizes large open spaces—areas where living is enjoyable and sharing is at the heart of every home. Cooking in a closed-off room is a thing of the past; we enjoy preparing meals while chatting about our day with family or guests. This way, everyone can go about their activities without being isolated in a separate room.
And yet, it’s nice to have distinct atmospheres within these expansive spaces. Décor can certainly help differentiate a TV corner from a workspace, for example, but clearly defined volumes can structure large areas without enclosing them.
Moreover, the recent rise of remote work has influenced how interiors are originally designed. Not everyone has the luxury of dedicating an entire room to their professional activity, so ingenuity is required to combine multiple functions in a single space while maintaining comfort for everyone.
At JOA, we’ve developed several custom solutions that allow you to partition an open space. Each of these room dividers is unique and adaptable. Some prioritize storage, while others emphasize the preservation of natural light offering a wide range of options for the different challenges you might face.
Suspension
If you know JOA, you’ve probably noticed Suspensions in our projects. This system is easily integrated into our custom layouts and adds a sense of lightness to our creations.
These are metal hangers on which we slide wooden or steel shelves. The structure is simple, yet arranged irregularly to create real dynamism in the composition both through the hangers and the shelves themselves.
This system can be suspended along part of the height or across the full height to create a true screen-like divider. The major advantage of this model is that it allows you to separate a room while personalizing it with your objects. You can leave the shelves open to maintain sightlines across the space, or fill them with books and decorative items to fully function as a room divider.
Thanks to its sleek and lightweight design, we also integrate Suspensions into various types of custom layouts, such as offices, kitchens, or bookshelves. They bring an airy quality that enhances the overall bespoke creation.
Whether placed in front of a window, as in our showroom, in an entryway, or at the center of a room, this Suspension model is timeless you’ll never tire of it!
See more projects here.
The Canva claustra
Have you seen our Canva staircase model? It features a perforated sheet with a deconstructed pattern. We had the idea to separate this sheet from the staircase and transform it into a screen.
The result? A space-saving divider that not only separates rooms but also adds character to your interior. Inspired by lace, the pattern interacts with light to create graphic shadow plays on walls and floors, shifting beautifully with the sun’s trajectory.
The sheet metal, as with all our projects, has the advantage of being available in a wide range of colors. Whether you choose white for a more understated look or green to emphasize a natural, vegetal feel, the choice is yours don’t be afraid to be bold!
Additionally, just like the Suspension model, the Canva screen can be combined with custom furniture. This allows you to more concretely define the space dedicated to the piece while creating an engaging interface between both sides.
This approach also works beautifully in a large bedroom. In an overly spacious room, furniture can feel lost in its environment. Traditionally, one might fill an entire wall with cabinets to maximize storage, but the result is often visually heavy, cold, and lacking in perspective or character.
At JOA, we offer the possibility of creating a “room within a room” to restore beautiful proportions to your space. The Canva screen allows you to divide the area without fully closing it off. It becomes the perfect piece of furniture to separate a room while allowing light to pass through and providing substantial storage volume.
Whatever your project, contact us here to schedule your first appointment at the showroom.
Separate a room with a piece of furniture in a harmonious way
Large open spaces combining multiple functional areas come with their own challenges. The bigger and more open the space, the fewer walls there are—and fewer walls often mean standard furniture doesn’t fit well.
This is where JOA adds real value. Our approach is unique in the way we analyze and utilize space. If the central area of your home combines kitchen, dining, and living areas, we study how you actually live in these spaces. Circulation and movement will be prioritized, allowing us to design furniture that respects the flow or even optimizes it through the piece’s shape.
This is where our curved furniture truly comes into its own. It allows you to separate a room in a fluid, gentle way. What type of furniture are we talking about? Anything is possible.
It could be a bookshelf and desk with steel supports, providing access to enclosed spaces on both sides. Or a more closed Pô unit with niches that open to either side. Even a kitchen with double-sided cabinetry, creating a buffet area directly accessible from the dining space.
These solutions are, of course, fully adaptable to professional environments as well. Take, for example, this orthodontic clinic: the goal was both to create functional workspaces and to enhance patient comfort and privacy separating areas without blocking the light.
Tell us your constraints, and we’ll propose a project tailored to your needs. Contact us here to discuss.
A wall unit, a more radical but no less practical room divider
Sometimes, lightweight structures aren’t enough to meet certain requirements. Open room dividers alone cannot block cold or noise effectively.
What alternatives does JOA offer ?
Partition walls can be custom-created to divide a room within your interior. Unlike conventional walls, our partitions can be curved in wood or steel and can seamlessly extend an existing piece of furniture. We offer a combination of closed storage units and open niches, creating a dynamic composition that can be used from both sides.
The entire life of the space is structured around this custom partition. On one side, the entrance is well separated from the living area, creating a decompression zone a place to arrive home and get comfortable.
On the other side, there is a large, multifunctional open space, still unified by the visual identity created by the curved partition. This wall incorporates the kitchen pantry, the stove and its wood storage, as well as the living room TV unit. Movement from one area to another is completely fluid.
Click here to discover our many completed projects or come and meet us in our showroom.