Works#Sustainability

The Refineverse Group advocates Waste to Wealth and is working on "new manufacturing" using waste as a resource. With this office relocation, our company was in charge of construction from concept design design to interiors construction work.

Cacao Tiegokaan visits cacao producing areas and works with cacao farmers to create chocolate from beans without compromise. The interior of the store is decorated with crushed cacao husk, the thin skin of cacao that is discarded during the chocolate manufacturing process. The chocolate carefully made from cacao fruit and the interior of the store, wrapped in cacao husk, resonate with each other, creating a special space where you can experience the charm of cacao with your whole body.

Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden opened in 1924 as Japan's first public botanical garden, and will celebrate its 100th anniversary on January 1, 2024. To mark the 100th anniversary, the garden has developed a new acorn forest area called "Dongreen Lab" in the garden. The area is a 3,000 square meter area in the center of the garden, where more than 10 types of acorn trees, including konara oak and sawtooth oak, are collected from all over the world. The garden has a bear-shaped "acorn post" that allows children to actually pick up acorns and feel their shape and smell, and a "highlight caption" that allows children to feel the diversity of acorns, allowing them to learn about the ecosystem while touching various types of acorns. The collected acorns will also be used in workshops within the garden and as gifts for the bears at Kyoto City Zoo.

We renovated the entrance and cafe space on the second floor of the Tokyo Tatemono Sendai Building with the aim of improving tenant satisfaction. Our company was involved from the planning and basic concept stages, and was responsible for interiors and environmental design, signage and graphic concept design, environmental features, and construction.

MIRAI-Bit is a website that allows users to experience some of the content related to the permanent displays at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan), which reopened in November 2023. This includes "Aging Park," where anyone can experience a simulated aging process; "Nanairo Quest," which focuses on a future where robots and humans live together; and "Planetary Crisis," which deals with the global environment. MIRAI-Bit is also being toured to various locations so that science museums and other institutions across Japan can experience it. Our company was responsible for content creation and the design and construction of displays fixtures for the tour.

This project involved the planning, design, and construction of an employee-only lounge for office tenants within the Shinjuku Center Building. Our company participated in this project from the very beginning, providing business planning, basic concepts, operational support proposals, and concept and naming suggestions. As a testing ground, concept design was conceived with the possibility of repurposing the space in other areas (vacant spaces) in mind.

"CITY CIRCUIT TOKYO BAY" is an entertainment facility that combines motorsports and technology, with the largest urban circuit in Japan centered on EV (electric) karts and the only circuit course in Tokyo's 23 wards. This facility uses dedicated EV racing karts and simulators to provide a full-scale urban racing experience on outdoor and indoor courses. The indoor course is a space where motorsport fans and families can enjoy all day long, in addition to productions that utilize projection mapping. Our mission is to deliver a new urban circuit experience to everyone by utilizing EVs and other technologies, promote well-being through next-generation mobility, and contribute to the SDGs by realizing a sustainable society using EVs. As a joint planning company, we handle a wide range of areas, from business planning to adding value after operation. In the future, we will work with TOM'S to expand this business nationwide in order to expand mobility entertainment.

Orque d'Or Salon AOYAMA is a members-only salon for the wealthy run by Tokai Tokyo Financial Group. Planned in Aoyama as the third location following Nagoya in 2016 and Nihonbashi, Tokyo in 2019, the facility has been created with the concept of a new "social space that stimulates the curiosity of adults" that connects "wealthy" members with "start-up entrepreneurs". Aiming to create a salon that welcomes more customers with multifaceted and memorable surprises, we have created a one-of-a-kind atmosphere where you can enjoy spatiality, art, sustainability, and craftsmanship.

With the aim of creating an opportunity to think about a society that lives sustainably in harmony with nature, Mitsui Fudosan and Discover Japan co-hosted an event at Tokyo Midtown Hibiya to learn about and deepen understanding of "wood." This real-world event was themed around "Living with Wood," a special feature in the August 2023 issue of the magazine "Discover Japan." The first-floor atrium was designated as the introduction area, symbolizing the event. For displays of wood carvings, our company aimed to create a space that envelops the wood carvings, based on the concept of "how to interact with wood" as an experience that engages all five senses, surrounded by the scent, sound, and light of wood. Our company was in charge of design, layout, and construction of this space. In addition, a panel exhibition in the underground passage of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya introduced our R&D activity, "Hand-concept design," and displays actual prototypes.

For the purpose of promoting Obayashi-gumi's efforts at the 2025 Japan World Expo (Osaka-Kansai Expo), we set up a visitor room in the Expo site office and planned a facility where Obayashi-gumi's stakeholders and guests of the Exposition Association will be attended. The displays structure is centered on a circular theater that evokes the image of the large roof ring of the Expo, and the surrounding area displays an overview of the Expo and explanations and mockups of the pavilion construction by Obayashi Gumi. displays The fixtures are made of wooden single pipes, and the graphics output by the plotter are displayed using clamps, expressing the "sense of the scene" that takes advantage of the background of the field office and the "sense of presence" that the Expo is being created in real time at this place, and the plan is to be updated so that the "now" of the site can be displays. In addition, we displays materials that reuse CLT panels used in the demonstration experiment of the large roof ring, graphics with the motif of drawing frames, and the latest construction photos, aiming for a displays concept design space that will grow with the site until the Expo is held.

This is displays project for the "Panasonic Group Booth" at CES 2024. At CES 2024, our company was responsible for the overall design, layout of the booth, which showcased "the future lifestyle envisioned by the Panasonic Group," balancing the resolution of global environmental issues with a better quality of life. Specifically, we introduced the future lifestyle and initiatives envisioned by the Panasonic Group in three categories: "Sustainable Energy (CO2 emission reduction)," "Circular Economy (circular manufacturing)," and "Resource Optimization (resource optimization)," and further displays the latest products and solutions that contribute to improving the "quality of life" for each individual.

"Marunouchi Street Park" has been running in Tokyo's Marunouchi Nakadori since 2019 as a demonstration experiment of future area management that transforms "road space" into a comfortable "urban park space." Based on the concept of "Popping Summer Street - Marunouchi Nakadori where visitors can feel the summer and get excited," verification items included collaboration with initiatives that are in line with the times and trends, such as rugby and SDGs, setting up tables equipped with wind and solar power generation capabilities, and creating a venue for musical performances that involves local workers and visitors.

NOMURA Co.,Ltd. Ltd. exhibited a booth at "SC Business Fair 2024," the industry's largest event bringing together shopping center stakeholders. Held at Pacifico Yokohama displays Hall for three days from January 24th to 26th, 2024, Nomura Co., Ltd. not only exhibited a booth but also held a free seminar on the first day of the event. The theme of this year's booth was "Sustainable concept design as Envisioned by NOMURA Co.,Ltd." As part of our social good R&D activities, we are developing a "Sustainable concept design Manners Book" that realizes aesthetic appeal, functionality, and environmental friendliness, and the booth was designed in accordance with the basic principles of the Manners Book. While sustainability initiatives are diversifying, we are also continuing to take on various challenges, such as developing upcycled materials. However, this time, we returned to basic materials that are indispensable for constructing spaces and that we will continue to be deeply involved with in the future, and focused on understanding the characteristics of each material. As basic materials, we used wood, cement, acrylic, copper, and iron, arranging the timbers of each material in a grid pattern while creating undulations in the space, allowing visitors to move around the booth and enjoy conversations. The proportion of each material used was calculated based on the embodied carbon emissions throughout the building's lifecycle, and we made efforts to allow visitors to visually perceive the characteristics of each material. Furthermore, by using clamps (*) instead of screws or adhesives for joining, the materials can be reused, and the amount of waste generated during demolition is drastically reduced, symbolically representing the fundamental concept of contributing to the environment. Our aim was concept design a booth where visitors could think together about future approaches to sustainable concept design, and where they could gain new insights and discoveries while demonstrating responsibility and gratitude for materials. *We are using the dedicated clamps from the "Tsunagi" project, planned and produced by Nikken Sekkei.

Building 15 at Sophia University's Yotsuya Campus opened in the fall of 2022 as a hub for adult education and community exchange, with the keyword "Transforming the city into a forest," aiming to contribute to achieving the SDGs and realizing a decarbonized society, as well as becoming a sustainable landmark for the region. Designed and construction by Sumitomo Forestry, this three-story fire-resistant wooden building utilizes "Kigurumi FR®," an original pure wood fire-resistant laminated timber made from Tama-grown cedar, for its main structural components. The facade, covered with a cross-shaped wooden lattice, is concept design that expresses the founding principles of Sophia University: "diversity," "interaction with others," "truth," and "tradition." The first floor will house a café open to the public, and as part of community contribution activities, space will be provided to nearby neighborhood associations for use as a disaster prevention warehouse. The second and third floors are used as classrooms for the "Professional Studies" course for working adults. Our company was responsible for design, layout, construction of the third floor, which is used as a classroom for the adult education course. Aiming to create a space that fosters wisdom through gathering, learning, and conversation, we also connected the story from the architecture to the materials that make up the space, and concept design using Nishikawa timber (cedar and cypress) from Hannō, which, along with Tama timber, has been used to build the city of Edo.

L'Oréal Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of the world's largest cosmetics company, L'Oréal Group, has undertaken its first major renovation since relocating Head Office to Shinjuku Park Tower in 2006. Named "Beauty Valley" under the concept of "EN" (縁), the renovated office embodies the desire to create a place where beauty is born, connecting people with Japan, customers, business partners, and employees. concept design incorporates the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) as themes for each area, and features furniture and decorations showcasing Japanese craftsmanship, incorporating Japanese beauty throughout. Furthermore, approximately 4,400 units of L'Oréal's products—around 60 different types, including eyeshadow, foundation, and lipstick—were upcycled before disposal, utilizing them in paints, lampshades, and tiles. While pursuing sustainable beauty, the office fully expresses L'Oréal's aesthetic by installing product display fixtures similar to those found in retail stores. Moreover, the office is designed in accordance with LEED standards, an international certification for sustainable buildings, ensuring energy efficiency and waste management, paying meticulous attention to details such as light, sound, and materials. Our company participated in this project as the overall construction company for interiors.