bstyle — Shinjuku: a room with a kitchen, for after the meeting has finished

Concept

A kitchen, on the client side of the office

Most companies keep the kitchen behind the staff door. bstyle has put one in a room called Borderless, on the side of the office where clients are received, and says plainly what it is for: after a business discussion, the relationship can be developed over cooking. The company also says, with some pride, that you do not often see this elsewhere.

The rest of the visitor floor is arranged around the same instinct — that the useful part of a meeting often happens after it. The waiting rooms are used for client discussions and recruitment interviews, and staff sometimes work in them for a change of scene; one looks west over Shinjuku, with Mount Fuji in daylight. Inside, the president’s and chairman’s rooms are glazed for the stated reason that it makes them easier to approach.

01 · The entrance

Four directions, on the wall

Out of the lift and right along the corridor, the entrance opens under a patterned ceiling. The logo at reception expresses the company philosophy of shihōzen.

02 · Waiting

Fuji by day, Shinjuku by night

The waiting rooms take client discussions and recruitment interviews. One of them looks out over the whole of Shinjuku; the company notes Mount Fuji in the daytime and the night view in the evening.

03 · The meeting rooms

Eight, six, six, twelve

Four visitor meeting rooms: one for eight with a large window, two for six, and the twelve-seat room used when several departments meet.

04 · Top of top

Fifty, or two rooms of twenty-five

The seminar room holds fifty and can be split in two by a movable wall. It takes internal training and company briefings.

05 · Borderless

The room with the kitchen

A kitchen is installed so that, after a meeting, the conversation can continue over food.

06 · The working floor

Glazed, and free address

The working floor is open, with the executive rooms glazed to it. Single-person booths are free address across the group companies; seven two-person rooms take remote meetings, and a quick-MTG area needs no booking.