Nakano City Central Library Children's Corner

This project involved concept design, renovating interiors, and environmental features for the children's corner of the Nakano Central Library, located a 10-minute walk from Nakano Station.
We aimed to create a space where both parents and children can feel comfortable and where the joy of reading can "blossom."
In the raised seating area, we created and installed benches, bookshelves for picture stories, and tree motifs, as well as features such as rotating blocks and a mechanism for measuring height.
In addition, we designed and manufactured other items such as bulletin boards with mailboxes, hemispherical chairs, and movable bookshelves. When producing wooden fixtures, we used "Tama timber," a local timber from Tokyo, from the perspective of promoting wood education.
In addition, we created 11 types of bookstands featuring original characters from the Central Library, resulting in a space that is both playful and warm.

① Maintenance of interiors and furnishings: Review interiors materials and furnishings that have been used for many years, and design and manufacture items that can be used safely by children.
② The space we aim for: To create a space where people can engage with books in various ways, whether with their parents or alone, while chatting or quietly contemplating.
③ Use of local timber: From the perspective of promoting wood education, we will use "Tama-grown timber" that grows in the Tama region of Tokyo.

In designing and construction interiors and furnishings, we considered not only safety and hygiene aspects, but also operational aspects such as cleaning and maintenance.
The space incorporates various features that encourage different ways of enjoying books, such as a raised seating area for parent-child story time and hemispherical chairs for quiet, solitary reading. Furthermore, the use of green and orange colors and wood-based concept design evokes a connection to the nearby Momijiyama Cultural Forest.
When using "Tama-grown timber," we took great care in selecting paints to allow the wood grain to be visible, creating a space where you can "see and touch" the warmth of the wood.