JAPAN'S BEST-DESIGNED OFFICES
Concept
ABW × comfort
When the office opened in 2018, the design focused on ABW — Activity Based Working, where people choose the best time and place for each task. Furniture colours changed by area so that everyone could learn the new way of working quickly.
Five years on, ABW had taken root, and the team asked what comes next. The answer for the 13th floor was “ABW × comfort”: keep the functions of ABW, and add the ease of working in nature.
01 · Plants
Wild green, placed densely
To bring the feeling of working outdoors inside, the designers chose plant varieties with a wild look. Instead of spacing them evenly, as offices usually do, they packed some areas densely so that the green really stands out.
02 · Light
Sun through the leaves
Most offices shut out daylight and then design the lighting. On 13F the lighting assumes daylight comes in, and its colour temperature and brightness change through the day, so people feel the time outside.
Perforated concrete blocks, normally used for garden walls, stand inside the office. Light passing through custom-made perforated plates recreates komorebi — sunlight filtering through leaves.
03 · Timber
A frame system built for the floor
For 13F the team took part in developing furniture from the start, including a timber frame system called solmio. Choices were discussed with people across the company, not only the design team.
04 · Colour
Wood, green and greige
Standard furniture was re-coloured to suit the space. Crisp black and white, which would stand out, were changed to greyish tones, so the palette stays with wood, green and greige.
05 · The 12th floor
An office that can change
12F was rebuilt in 2022, just after the pandemic, around two keywords: adaptability and new points of contact. Each activity is matched to a piece of furniture, so the floor can change with the company. A showroom shares the floor, and round booths called En Cordinate are made for hybrid meetings.
