At JAM Ghent in Belgium, the 108-room hotel born from the old Leopold military barracks, guests are welcomed with kiosks fashioned out of discarded furniture by Brussels-based artist Rikkert Paauw. These colorful desks set a tone of quirkiness that pervades the property.

“We wanted to create something close to an atelier, where the process is visible and still ongoing. Not a fixed or polished hotel, but a place that feels active, where things can evolve over time,” explains Louise Michiels, partner at Zaventem, Belgium-based Studio Lionel Jadot. 

Prior to JAM Ghent’s arrival in 2025, the recent B Corp-certified brand sprouted locations in Brussels and Lisbon, also courtesy of Studio Lionel Jadot. The newest, which opened in Porto earlier this year, is situated in the old Mouco Hotel designed by local firm Arquitectos Aliados.

Much of JAM Ghent’s focus on sustainability stems from the Realistic Circle, Studio Lionel Jadot’s design process centered on collaboration with local artisans and the reclamation of found objects. 

Here, Michiels and her team partnered with more than 40 artists, makers, and designers largely from Belgium, manifesting in distinctive elements like the OpenStructures modular beds gracing guestrooms, local artist Liesbeth Henderickx’s knitted plaster sculptures in the lobby, and lamps backdropped by brick in the restaurant Kaiju that Edward Rafalko fabricated from tubes ordinarily used in swimming pool systems.

“It was not about curating something perfectly aligned. It was more about bringing together people who share a similar approach, and letting their work exist next to each other naturally,” says Michiels, noting how she is most pleased by JAM Ghent’s overall atmosphere. “Functional pieces, artworks, and reused materials all sit together in a way that feels honest and direct.”