Maruhan Sendai Kudatake Store Rest Room "REVERSE AREA"

"REVERSE AREA" inside the newly opened Maruhan Sendai Kudatake store in Sendai city is a new type of rest space where you can feel relaxed and in contrast to the heat of the pachinko parlor.
​To evoke the combination of the heat of the hall and a relaxing space, we focused on the flow of a sauna, a cold bath, and an open-air bath, and incorporated content with a soothing and relaxing effect into the room.
To maximize the healing power of water, we have selected a device that shakes a water basin and projects the ripples of the water into the space, fresh forest aromas, original healing sounds, and reclining and bowl-type chairs, creating a place where you can relax using all your senses.
Our company is responsible for planning and basic concept, design, layout, building execution, environmental features, and sign and graphic concept design.

When we were thinking about how to create an attractive "place" for our Sendai Kudatake store, we came up with the idea of a rest area that had never been seen before. Even when we conduct surveys of customers who visit our stores, the requests for an improved rest area always rank highly.
One of the values we offer is "peace of mind," but the rest areas themselves have become homogenized, and we were faced with the dilemma that we might not be able to provide the essential "peace of mind."
Furthermore, when we look at society, we see that many people are stressed and seek "peace" in their leisure time, and by putting together the pieces that show there is a need from both fans and society, we thought that an unprecedented rest area would lead to the creation of new value.

By transforming a rest room that was primarily used by existing customers, but only had manga comics and massage chairs, into a place where customers can enjoy the relaxation that only Maruhan can offer, we were able to increase satisfaction for users and motivate non-users to visit and stay more often.
To prevent the lighting effects unique to pachinko parlors from infiltrating the room, we concept design a partition wall that resembles water bubbles. We also tried our hand at creating a playful mechanism that blocks out the light from outside while still allowing visitors to peer inside through the bubbles.
In order to realize this project, the construction period was limited, so we worked with a partner company that specializes in digital fabrication, which enabled us to quickly bring the project to life from a sketch drawing.