Works#Fairwood

It opened in April 2024 as a restaurant created by Chef Kobayashi Kei of the Parisian French restaurant "Restaurant KEI" and "Toraya", a Japanese confectionery shop founded in the late Muromachi period. In Ginza, Tokyo, where tradition and newness coexist and diverse food cultures can be enjoyed, we want to create a restaurant that goes beyond French cuisine, pursues innovation in gourmet food with a free-thinking approach, without being bound by anything. We want everyone who works here, not just the chefs, to learn and research ingredients, share the essence of gourmet food with customers who visit, and make not only the food but the entire experience here satisfy the customers' hearts. "ESPRIT C. KEI GINZA" is a so-called "gourmet laboratory" that embodies Chef Kobayashi Kei's thoughts. The restaurant consists of a main dining room with live counter seats centered around the open kitchen, which is the key to creating the dishes, table seats covered with a wooden concept design, and a private kitchen with a private room inspired by a laboratory. France is said to have a culture of stone, and Japan has a culture of wood. This restaurant is a new space where French and Japanese cultures meet, blending the cultures of both countries in a harmonious blend of stone and wood. The ceiling concept design that covers the entire floor is a dynamic composition that changes from a traditional checkerboard pattern to an innovative cave-like installation, expressing tradition and innovation.

This project involved concept design, interiors renovation, and environmental features of the children's corner of Nakano City's Ekoda Library, located in a quiet residential area where children from the neighborhood gather. On the first floor, we replaced the old interiors materials with new ones and created a bookshelf unique to the children's corner, where large books and picture-story shows can be stored. We also created a magazine area for parents to enjoy, creating a space where parents and children can spend time together. In this space, where children are greeted by the library's original characters, "Shishimaru" and "Egotan," inspired by the "Ekoda Lion Dance," an intangible folk cultural property designated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, we aimed to give children the impression that libraries are fun places. On the second floor, we installed a new counter and chairs. By using acrylic material for part of the counter, it has become a space where you can quietly read while feeling the faint warmth of the sunlight.

Air Water Hokkaido's new facility, "Air Water Forest," is an open innovation facility that tackles social issues to "achieve a sustainable society" and "achieve a safe, secure, and prosperous lifestyle." Restaurant and cafe "Eureka" was created within this facility as a place to disseminate and share "agriculture and food," one of the Air Water Group's initiatives. The space was developed in collaboration with the architectural concept design so that the concept of the facility, "sustainable and prosperous lifestyle," could be felt in the restaurant. Like the restaurant's name "Eureka" (which means "I found it! I understand it!" in ancient Greek), concept design allows customers to discover the rich land of Hokkaido and the natural deliciousness of the ingredients that grow there.

This facility is a showroom for condominium sales by Mitsui Fudosan Residential. It is located on the first floor of a building in the center of Sendai city, and taking advantage of its location that is easily visible from outside, the space was designed with the concept of "EN - A place that connects people with people, town with people, inside with outside, and connections" in mind, and was designed with the image of a "veranda" commonly seen in Japanese houses. In the presentation space in the center, a condominium model and video are used to welcome residents with an exciting displays. In the surrounding park-like space that connects to the outside, business negotiations about "living" can also be conducted. In order to promote diversity and inclusion, the company has introduced a paraart subscription service to some of the condominiums in the Sendai area, and is working to provide opportunities for people to support independence and thrive. In order to let many people know about this initiative, art is displayed in part of the meeting space, and a mini gallery introducing paraartists is also set up in a space that resembles a condominium balcony that can be seen immediately from the sidewalk.

This is a renovation project for a permanent comprehensive sales gallery that will act as a base for communicating information about the housing brand "Gracia" developed by Sotetsu Real Estate, where customers can experience the brand's worldview through actual properties and video. The Sotetsu Line, which is deeply rooted in the Yokohama area and is loved by many, is now connected to the Tokyu Line through mutual direct service, improving convenience. As a result, the salon was opened in Shin-Yokohama, which functions as a hub connecting Yokohama, where Sotetsu Real Estate is based, with other prefectures, making it easy for customers living in the city center to visit. The facility includes a lounge where events can be held, a presentation room where each property can be experienced in VR, and a concept room that expresses the "quality" of the Gracia brand. We were in charge of interiors concept design, environmental features, and display.

We want people to enjoy the process of building a house by "seeing, touching," "talking," and "experiencing" it, just like building a piece of work. We were in charge of design, layout, production, and interiors construction of the experiential housing showroom that was born from that idea. The four-story "AI-STUDIO-SAPPORO" built in Sapporo, Hokkaido, has an attractive and highly functional plan that takes advantage of the multi-story structure, and the actual displays of the split-level floor that makes use of the high ceiling expresses the richness of the space by showing four scenes in succession. The material corner provides hints for building a house and expresses the uniqueness and ingenuity of Ai Construction's spatial proposals, making it a showroom where customers can build their homes with a fun and positive feeling.

In order to improve the satisfaction of building tenants, we renovated the entrance and cafe space on the second floor of the Tokyo Tatemono Sendai Building. We were involved from the planning and basic concept stages, and were responsible for interiors and environmental design, sign and graphic concept design, environmental features, and construction.

This project involved the concept design, interiors renovation, and environmental features of the "Children's Corner" at Nakano City Central Library, located a 10-minute walk from Nakano Station. Our goal was to create a space where parents and children can feel comfortable and where the joy of books can flourish. In the raised area, we created and installed benches, a bookshelf for picture-story shows, and wooden motifs, as well as rotating blocks and a mechanism for measuring height. We also designed and produced a bulletin board with a mailbox, a hemispherical chair, and a movable bookshelf, and used "Tama wood," a local wood source in Tokyo, to create the wooden furniture, in line with the concept of wood education. We also produced 11 types of book stands, including original characters from the Central Library, to create a space that is both "playful" and "warm."

The event was held at Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, sponsored by Mitsui Fudosan and Discover Japan, with the aim of creating an opportunity to think about a society that can live sustainably with greenery. It was a real event based on the theme of "Living with Wood," a special feature in the magazine "Discover Japan" published in August 2023. The atrium on the first floor was used as an introduction area to symbolize this event. In order to create a space that envelops the woodcarvings, we adopted the concept of "how to interact with wood," which is experienced with the five senses while being surrounded by the scent, sound, and light of wood. We were in displays of the design, layout, and construction of this spatial production. In addition, a panel exhibition in the underground passage of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya introduced our R&D activities, "concept design by Thinking with Hands" and displays actual prototypes.

This is a renewal project for Tobu Skytree Line's "Asakusa Station" and Tobu Nikko Line's "Tobu Nikko Station" in line with the start of Tobu Railway's new limited express train, Spacia X. The project is based on the concept of "connecting," and aims to create a connection between the space from before boarding the Spacia X to after getting off. The concept of "connecting" also has several overlapping meanings, such as "connecting to the journey of Nikko," "connecting the old and new station building concept design," "connecting the history and culture of the area along the line to the future," and "connecting the skills and thoughts of the creators to the users." As a station building concept design that embodies "connecting," it actively uses materials from Tochigi Prefecture and incorporates motifs from the nature, history, and culture of Nikko into concept design, aiming for "environmental conservation" and "cultural dissemination" as a new initiative of Tobu Railway. In order to communicate this initiative, we were also in charge of producing graphic posters with the theme of "connecting," which were displays in the Asakusa Station and Tobu Nikko Station premises.

LOGI'Q Minamiibaraki, the flagship facility of Tokyu Land Corporation's LOGI'Q brand, will be completed in January 2024 as one of the largest logistics facilities in the Kansai region, and we were responsible for design, layout construction, sign concept design, etc. We designed cafeterias on the first and fourth floors with different concept design themes that characterize the facility. Considering that the first floor area faces the mountainous area, we used plenty of wood and realized a spacious space that takes advantage of the high ceilings, while the fourth floor area is located on the urban and industrial area side, so we finished it with a sharp and modern composition using metal and stone. In addition, we concept design a large, eye-catching logo outdoors and a lounge located at the main entrance, providing a comfortable experience for customers visiting the facility and creating a space that will encourage communication through art and displays.

In order to contribute to the promotion of SDGs in Higashiyodogawa Ward, Osaka Prefecture, and to create a space where visitors can feel relaxed and comfortable, Higashiyodogawa Ward Office has renovated the waiting areas on the first and second floors with wood. The renovation concept is "Treeful." This is a coined word that means "full" with trees (tree), and conveys the message that just as a wide variety of trees gather together to create a rich, strong, and sustainable mountain, the diversity of the people living in this city creates a rich society. By incorporating a wealth of wood from Osaka Prefecture into areas of Higashiyodogawa Ward Office that are visible to many users, and with the cooperation of ward residents through workshops, a space filled with the diverse charms of wood, "Treeful," was born. *This project was implemented using the "Forest Environment Grant Tax."

Building 15 of Sophia University's Yotsuya Campus is based on the theme of "turning the city into a forest," and aims to contribute to achieving the SDGs and realizing a carbon-free society, as well as to become a sustainable landmark for the region. It opened in the fall of 2022 as a base for adult education and community interaction. The three-story wooden building was designed and construction by Sumitomo Forestry, and is a fire-resistant structure. The main structural parts are made of "Kigurumi FR®," an original pure wood fire-resistant laminated lumber made from cedar from Tama. The facade, which is covered with crisscrossing wooden lattices, is concept design to express "diversity," "interaction with others," "truth," and "tradition," which are linked to Sophia University's founding principles. The first floor will operate a cafe that is open to the public, and as part of community contribution activities, the space will be provided to nearby neighborhood associations as a disaster prevention warehouse. The second and third floors are also used as classrooms for the "Professional Studies" course for working adults. We were responsible for design, layout, and construction of the third floor, which is used as a classroom for working adults. We aimed to create a space that would be a place to gather, learn from each other, and talk, and to foster concept design. We also linked the story of the architecture to the materials that make up the space, using Nishikawa timber (cedar and cypress) from Hanno, which, together with materials from Tama, helped build the city of Edo.

BLUE NOTE PLACE is a new type of restaurant that blends food, music and culture, proposing a casual style of enjoying high-quality live music and DJ sets while dining, while harmonizing with the town of Ebisu where people with diverse values and lifestyles gather. The interior of the restaurant makes generous use of the open two-story space, and is fully equipped with spaces to accommodate a variety of uses, including dining, a bar, a lounge, private rooms and a terrace. While the restaurant primarily operates as a dining and bar, it is a space that seamlessly combines food and music, where customers can casually enjoy live music and DJ sets with a table charge. We were in charge of design, layout.

This is a community revitalization and disaster prevention base that was born in Koshimizu Town, Hokkaido, and is a community revitalization and disaster prevention base that has been working in partnership with the public and public, with the aim of creating a lively and sustainable town by creating a place for people to live both in everyday life and in times of disaster. In addition to the town hall functions, the town hall will be equipped with a cafe, laundry, fitness gym, community space, etc., transforming the town hall from a traditional "place you don't go to unless you have something to do" to a new "place you come to naturally." We aim to become a central facility where the town hall and residents can work together to revitalize the town while facing the challenges of depopulation and aging.