Following a floor vacancy at a 33-year-old office building in Shibaura, Tokyo (formerly used for warehousing and R&D), we took on a fresh, strategic interior renovation of a 150 m2 corner of a 1,380 m2 office to attract a new corporate tenant. Thus began our careful inquiry into how to introduce practical and spatial elements that would make the office more inviting overall.
Central air conditioning called for an unimpeded airflow. We set to work studying materials to trace out a room without blocking the airflow – porous surfaces, mesh, louvers, and so on. At the same time, what practical elements would make the office as a whole more cohesive, and how could we convey an appealing sense of transparency? Considering the central role that people (the tenants) would play here, we also wondered how the room might expand mental boundaries in the conversations unfolding here.
ReBar derives from reinforcing bars used in construction. The bars in reinforced concrete are normally embedded and hidden from view. Here, as the visible framework that outlines the room, they serve both practical and aesthetic purposes.
On a practical level, this arrangement allows lectures, discussions, brainstorming, and conversations in one room to spill out through the open rebar mesh, which may inspire those working outside and have a positive impact.
Aesthetically, the rebar partitions the room while allowing light, airflow, and a sense of others' presence through, as a subtle wall that links the room to the larger space. Soothing light blue sets the tone in the inner area, with the main area set apart by the white, crystalline structure of bars in the background. As we envision it, the interactive partitioning of this corner of the office will disperse the lively, sophisticated conversations we hope will happen here.
In this way, the design reflects planning for a motivating workplace.
Material Used :
1. Tajima - Floor material - P tile Muji
2. Wall material - Deformed rebar
3. Ceiling material - AEP paint
