JAPAN'S BEST-DESIGNED OFFICESConcept
The shelf as a working tool
J.Front Prime Space designs and builds interiors, and the two rooms it is proudest of are both, in effect, storage. One is the lounge — books along the whole wall, usable as a café. The other is the material lab, which the company describes with two verbs: examining and experimenting. It is where samples are laid out and compared, and it doubles as a making space.
For a company whose product is a finished interior, this is the working end of the business made visible. The Osaka office repeats the idea in a smaller room: a design room holding a large number of books, kept specifically so that ideas can be gathered from them. Everywhere else the office is arranged so the seat can follow the task — a range of desks and chairs, chosen freely, and a refresh area the company compares to a park.
01 · The entrance
Signage, and the company’s own work
The entrance is described as the starting point where people meet. Digital signage is set into the wall, showing the company’s own products.
02 · The lounge
Books, and coffee
An area lined with books that also works as a café lounge, with armchairs set against the shelves.
03 · The working area
Choose the seat for the job
The working area offers a range of seat types so that people can work in the way the task requires.
04 · The material lab
Examining, and experimenting
A lab area with, in the company’s words, the function of examining and experimenting — samples compared side by side, and the room used as a making space.
05 · Osaka
Street trees, and three colours
The Osaka floor lets people choose from several kinds of desk and chair. The window seats face the main street, so the trees give the season; the meeting space is kept to white, black and grey.
