Hanazono Alley — Ikenohata: a company dormitory turned start-up offices

Concept

An alley

The architects noticed that the dormitory plan looked like a row of townhouses facing an alley. On site they found the alley’s elements: hedges, seasonal decorations, plants, steps, poles, block walls and manholes.

A new alley with benches, an outdoor lounge and alley plants became the centre of the project, a park-like place for neighbours and tenants to meet.

01 · Inside

Traces of the dormitory

Most rooms became offices; the manager’s room became a lounge for meetings, parties and seminars. Partitions, closet marks, mortar in the shape of old bathroom tiles and the original concrete were left so the past stays visible.

02 · Up top

Gallery and herbs

The fifth floor holds a gallery and the roof an herb garden. Rents are set to suit start-ups, which is why the finishes are kept very simple.