Collection by Dwell
Claudy Jongstra kneels with a family cat in the yard behind her office and home, which she shares with her partner, Claudia Busson, and their two sons, Eabal and Jesk. Behind her is a small dinghy that the family uses to navigate the numerous irrigation canals that traverse the farmlands throughout Friesland. Despite its modest scale, Jongstra’s studio has worked on major collaborations with Hella Jongerius,Tord Boontje, Steven Holl, andRem Koolhaas, in addition tofashion design for Alexander van Slobbe and costume work for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
“The sun rises behind the house and heats up the concrete mass during the morning, and [comes] through the front of the house in the afternoon; if need be the radiant energy warms up the house when temperatures drop in the evening,” says Thorsteinsson. Thanks to the thoughtful process, the couple was able to leave out the air-conditioning, and the house’s under-floor radiant heating system has turned out to be almost superfluous.