While the demand for banquet halls in rural areas had been declining year by year along with Japan's economic decay, COVID-19 from 2019 became pandemic and the demand for banquet halls almost disappeared. Therefore, the owner thought it would be possible to renovate the banquet halls as guest rooms.
[Guest rooms]
Because it was a banquet hall, the ceiling is high, and because it is on the lower floors, you can see the Haruki River below. Based on these conditions, in order to achieve an overwhelming sense of openness, we decided to raise the level of the floor gradually toward the outside so that the line of sight would naturally be directed upwards, leading to the sky. As you go further inside, the sash naturally lowers, and it becomes a line of sight overlooking the Haruki River, giving you a new sensation. Taking advantage of the difference in elevation, we produced an openness and a feeling of the riverbed. By making the furniture the same height as the sofa, we have achieved both the relaxation of Japanese style and the comfort of Western style. The guest room has a bath with a view that draws in the source and allows you to fully feel the outside.
[Restaurant Oriori]
The entrance is regarded as the outside, and the eaves are projected along the straight line of flow. The kitchen is a live kitchen that can be viewed from the street, and guests can approach the audience while communicating with the chef. The audience seats are divided into three zones that match the flow of the river that flows by the building. LIVE ZONE is a space where you can enjoy the dynamism that reminds you of white waves and the live kitchen that can be seen beyond, creating a screen with white unevenness by "folding" the triaxial fabric. CALM ZONE expresses a water basin (a place where the river flows gently and the water is deep) by "folding" the walls and creating a calm space. The room is impressive with a gate. BUBBLE ZONE connects the walls and ceiling with a curved surface to increase the sense of unity, creating a soft space that seems to be wrapped in gushing water bubbles. By plastering seamlessly, the softness of the curved surface is expressed more strongly.
The hotel name was changed during the rebranding nine years ago, and for this renovation, the guest rooms were renamed "Kawami" and the restaurant "Oshokudo Oriori".
KAWAMI: "KAWAMI" was chosen as a place to look at the river because we proposed a space like a kawadoko (riverbed) overlooking the Haruki River that flows next to the hotel. The name was also chosen to imply that the bathroom is characterized by the image of water by using the words "river + water," both of which suggest water.
Oriori (fold): "Oriori" means each time or season, and "ori" means a small box or lunch box made of thin cedar. The name "Oriji" was chosen to express the meaning of providing delicious seasonal meals as colorful as a bento box. It also functions as a design element, as the name of the hotel "YUAMU" means "weave.
Yuamu: When we rebranded the hotel nine years ago, we used the Toyooka kiryu-zaiku (woven willow baskets) of the area as a motif, and we combined the word "weave" from this with "yuyamu" (bathing) in this area, which was a famous spa resort.
