Mitaka Memoried Hall

"A funeral home that is close to the local community"
This is a funeral hall in Mitaka City, Tokyo, operated by Memolead Co., Ltd., which provides life support services including weddings and funerals.

Our company handled everything from the architecture and interiors design, layout to the floor plan, signage, and construction. The facility is designed to accommodate all funeral services, consisting of two halls, a purification area that is integrated with the funeral hall, a mortuary, a bathing room, a waiting room, and a departure and parking area.

In response to the surrounding lush green and pleasant living environment, the funeral hall was designed with the concepts of "a funeral hall that resonates with the city," "a residence-like appearance using textured finishes," and "an inviting space that flows continuously from the outside to the inside." The low-rise structure incorporates green spaces, and the pilotis and openings allow the building to embrace the local area, nature, and light, creating a spatial configuration that blends seamlessly with the surrounding environment. Furthermore, the space is connected from the pilotis to the first-floor entrance and from the staircase to the second-floor foyer, drawing light from the second floor into the first floor, creating a configuration where the exterior space flows continuously into the interior. interiors and floor amenities (FF&E) were based on the concept of "an organic space that envelops precious time with the deceased," concept design in a calm and gentle impression that softly embraces the time that has been woven and accumulated.
In addition, while taking into account the regulations of Mitaka City and providing explanations to neighbors, we aimed to create a funeral hall that is close to the community in terms of both its facilities and services.


[Social Issues / Customer Issues / Requests]
As the funeral hall would be located in a residential area, we were required to be considerate of the neighbors in every aspect, from the physical facilities to the services provided.
Furthermore, recently, it has become less common to hold a wake and funeral service over two days, with one-day funerals and family funerals being the mainstream. In addition, the number of attendees is limited due to the impact of COVID-19, so there was a request for a spatial concept design that could accommodate a short time and a small number of people.


[Solution]
In consideration of the surrounding neighborhood, the design minimizes the feeling of being overwhelmed by keeping the building low-rise, setting it back from the road *, and incorporating green spaces. Furthermore, by using high-quality finishes to give it the appearance of a residence, concept design blends in with the surrounding residential environment while minimizing the image of a funeral hall.
The ground floor piloti is a softly partitioned space created by using wire-based greenery and louvers to block the view, rather than concealing it with walls, thus creating a space that embraces the surrounding environment. The facility's activities are felt, and it is a space that can be easily entered during events, thus being planned as a facility that will be recognized and understood by local residents.
In addition, while taking into account the regulations of Mitaka City and providing explanations to neighbors, we aimed to create a funeral hall that is "close to the community" in terms of both hardware and software.
To concept design a space suitable for short periods of time and small groups, we prioritized functionality over warmth, using organic finishes interiors and incorporating FF&E (fiber, air, and ventilation) to create a calm and gentle atmosphere.

*: Setback is to secure a certain distance from the boundary line of the land and build a building.

<Our project members>
[Sales & Project Management] Hiroshige Sakimoto
[design, layout] NAU: Yoichi Kawakami, Norio Koito, Wataru Sugimoto, Akane Watanabe / Kei Matsuzawa
[Signed] Tomomi Ito
[Production and construction] Keita Ide, Ryota Sakurai