Japan

The 55 years old apartment is located in the beach town of Hayama, on the southeast of the ever-popular tourist area of Kamakura on the Miura Peninsula. Akira Nakamura The owners contacted us with the request of transforming the space into a bright and easy to take care of home. The apartment building in which it is located, with big windows facing a large garden, had plenty of potential to fulfill their desire. Akira Nakamura We opted to unify the interior in bright colors, and chose lauan as an accent. Akira Nakamura Upon client’s request, PVC flooring sheets were used in most of the spaces except for the bedroom and entrance area.   Akira Nakamura We found it to be the ideal material for the case - more... Mais

"TIARA CLUB" is an esthetic salon in Kumamoto City. A water basin of 14 m wide, 10 m deep, and 30 cm deep was set up in the front yard, and 120 square squares of cedar wood with a height of 4.5 m and applied to pressurized injection and embalming were circulated in a grid pattern, so that light and wind could pass through while blocking the view of daily life, and the bamboo forest could be seen through the lattice. Hiroyuki Kawano Hiroyuki Kawano Hiroyuki Kawano Hiroyuki Kawano Hiroyuki Kawano By the time visitors cross the stepping stones in the basin, hear the sound of the water and open the entrance door while watching the ripples, it switches to the extraordinary and allows visitors to enjoy the feeling of ope... Mais

The "SECOND SIGHT" is located on Sakae Street, the center of Kumamoto City's nighttime downtown area, and has two movable exterior walls. Toshihisa Ishii Toshihisa Ishii Depending on the weather of the day and the conditions at that time, the outer wall can be opened and closed. When the outer wall is closed, the atrium is inside, and each tenant is organically connected, but when the outer wall is left open, the atrium becomes outside, and each tenant has a sense of unity with the outside and feels the outside air. Toshihisa Ishii Toshihisa Ishii In addition, this area is a place where bars, restaurants, and karaoke box restaurant buildings stand out, and various neon lights intersect, and in order to express a strong... Mais

We renovated a wooden two-story house at a 15 min walk from Kunitachi station. Located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Kunitachi is an area popular among students as three big universities reside there. Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura The house was built in the late 70s and had some plumbing problems that had to be taken care of before someone could live there and therefore it sat empty for several years before the owners got introduced to our Kariage project. Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura At zero cost for the owner we renovate and then sublease old vacant houses. The project started as a reaction to Japan’s continuing akiya (空き家) problem, as there is more than 10 million abandoned properties in Japan.... Mais

This two-story house from the seventies is located in Akabane, a residential area with a retro atmosphere on the border of Tokyo and Saitama prefectures. Popular with Tokyo's workers, the area comes alive at night when the narrow alleys around the station glow with red paper lanterns, and revellers spill out of inexpensive bars and restaurants.  Akira Nakamura The owner, who was born and lived in the house until elementary school, inherited it from his parents. When the family first moved out to another area of Tokyo, the property was put up for rent. Then, after the tenants left, it sat empty for more than 10 years. Akira Nakamura The owner already possessed a place to live in, but didn’t want to sell the inherited h... Mais

This is a hair salon located on a local roadside. Cars come and go all day long on the front road and most of the surrounding area is occupied by parking. But three-fourths of the city area is covered in forest, where forestry is flourishing here and timber has long been transported by raft. Although the utilization of local resources is being promoted, the transition to wooden non-residential low-rise buildings has not progressed. Yosuke Ohtake Yosuke Ohtake Yosuke Ohtake The client requested bright spaces, ventilation performance effective against viruses, and a sustainable architecture to ensure this. Is it possible to create a natural architecture that reflects these diverse conditions? Rather than thinking about the des... Mais

The Eifukuchō house renovation is part of Roovice’s Kariage initiative. At zero cost for the owner we renovate and then sublease old vacant houses. The project started as a reaction to Japan’s continuing akiya (空き家) problem, as there is more than 10 million abandoned properties in Japan.  Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura This Japanese house, typical for its period, was built around 70 years ago and is located in the quiet residential area called Eifukuchō, just a few stops from Shibuya, in Tokyo. Although being situated in a densely populated neighborhood it features a garden and a parking lot.  Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura Originally the ground floor was the... Mais

Higashihongō is one of the neighbourhoods in the north side of Yokohama City. The development of the residential area began during the 1960s with a multitude of two-storeys houses. After opening the nearby train line, a rapid increase in population forced the administration to heavily invest on new housing construction using quick and cheap modular lightweight metal structures. Akira Nakamura The result of it is an extended urban texture where every building is almost identical to the next one, and no real landmark stands out from the mass. The lack of exterior creativity induced the landowner to push the quality enhancement of the interior ambience. Akira Nakamura Higashihongō House is part of this development and was originall... Mais

エンゼル (Angel) was a popular tuna restaurant of Misaki, south end of the Kanagawa Prefecture. It was known and appreciated by the whole community, thanks to its location next to the harbour which provided a daily supply of fresh quality fish and seafood products. It wasn’t a mere spot where to eat: it was the gathering place around which the locals of every generation spent their time and created the foundations for the village to build its identity. Unfortunately though, the restaurant closed several years ago, leaving a void in the town that was seeking for a replacement. Akira Nakamura Akira Nakamura The resulting context was very similar to another renovation project completed by Roovice in the nearby town of Miura; in th... Mais

Kashiwa Sato designed the first global flagship restaurant outside of Japan launched by major conveyor belt sushi chain Kura Sushi in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Following the design of the flagship stores in Japan, Kura Sushi Taiwan features the latest evolution of a space concept that revives the original Edo Period scene of "food and entertainment" inspired by a scene from Hiroshige Utagawa's "Famous Views of the Eastern Capital, Amusements While Waiting for the Moon on the Twenty-sixth Night at Takanawa" in which merchants casually enjoy sushi at a food stall. Yasuhiro Takagi This is the first architectural project for a flagship store. The building is the largest Kura Sushi restaurant in the world, with a large roof tiled with kawara, a t... Mais

LuxLinea is an ophthalmology clinic in Shibuya, Tokyo. The new addition to Total Eye Care clinics in the heart of the Japanese capital takes place on the ground floor of a mixed-use building. Clear glass on two sides visually connects the space to its surrounding urban environment. Nacása & Partners Inc. Nacása & Partners Inc. LuxLinea design addresses two main issues: glass reflections, and patients’ privacy. The clinic operates mostly during daytime, when the bright daylight reflects on the glass, obstructing visibility to the inside. To counter this effect, a series of intriguing vertical lines of light are emitted from the inside attracting the curiosity of the passerby. Nacása & Part... Mais

The Laminaesculapian is the new replacement building for Himeji Daiichi Hospital’s 56 years old construction bloc that did not meet the new earthquake resistance standards. The new design explores the idea of breaking up the monolithic blocks of modern hospitals without losing the functionality aspect crucial to a healthcare facility. KTX archiLAB KTX archiLAB The hospital is located along the national road No2, a major commuting artery in western Japan. The available land area and building regulations resulted in two sides of the volume facing the road laterally. The north façade, the largest side, is designed to look like a thin sheet with playful random-width window openings. A series of surface duplications slide... Mais

Caption 【Background】 Maruno Ceramic Tiles Co., Ltd. (Maruno INC.) is celebrating its 90th anniversary. This is a plan to rebrand and renovate the headquarters of a company that has been supporting the well-known tile projects of Morioka City buildings. Maruno Corporation has been engaged in tile projects for almost 90 years since its inception, and its headquarters building has a history of 50 years, accumulating long-term technology and history. The renovation design is not a complete makeover but uses the concept of tiles, with history "covering" and "stacking" like tiles, using "layers" as the design concept, and designing both exterior and interior in this style.   【Highlights】 The design emphasizes showcasing the histor... Mais

This is a project to renovate an old house in Nara City. Various buildings of different ages stand on the site, sharing a corridor and a courtyard. The oldest and largest of them is a barn with a large atrium, built to store long logs. The barn had been little used for many years and had become weathered. The client wanted to renovate it into a comfortable living space. Keishiro Yamada We removed a large amount of mud walls that had detached from the bamboo framework due to continuous leaks, rebuilt the basement, reinforced columns and beams that had been weakened by termite and decay damage, and filled the roof and walls with insulation. Keishiro Yamada The atrium, converted into a large living room, leads to a Japanese-style r... Mais