JAPAN'S BEST-DESIGNED OFFICES
Concept
Neither private rooms nor one big room
The brief was written against a choice the company refused to make. Not private offices, not a single open plan — instead, a floor where distinct places with characters of their own sit scattered but loosely connected, the way a traditional Japanese building is arranged.
Underneath that is an organisational idea. The heads of department and the executives are gathered at the centre of the floor, with the department groups arranged around them, because the aim the office was given was to make decisions faster.
01 · The counter
Along the louvres
The window side runs as a long counter behind the terracotta louvres, which control the sun and the sightlines while keeping the view of Hamamatsu Castle.
02 · Engawa
The veranda, indoors
One of the named places is the engawa — in a Japanese house, the wooden veranda between the room and the garden, neither inside nor out.
03 · Hanare
The room set slightly apart
The other is the hanare, the detached room. Timber ceilings and a lower light make it read as a different building even though it is a few steps from the desks.
04 · Planting and texture
Deliberate unevenness
Natural materials were chosen so the surfaces vary — terracotta tile and timber, with the texture, angle, thickness and length made deliberately uneven so that light and shadow are never flat. The company notes that this also means marks and colour variation do not show, which cut waste during construction.
05 · Canteen and terrace
Down from the office
Below the working floors are the canteen and the roof terrace. The canteen has sofa seats and booth seats chosen so that posture changes, and it runs as a café until the evening, which turns it into a casual meeting place.
06 · The louvre
What makes the light
The outer skin is a terracotta louvre whose angle changes gradually across the façade, so that it reads as a stand of trees. With the cypress inside, the company set out to make the light indoors feel like walking through woodland.
