Kewpie Sengawa Kewport — Chōfu: an office with food at its heart

Kewpie Group’s Sengawa Kewport in Chōfu, Tokyo, finished in 2013, combines offices, R&D, a visitor facility and a licensed nursery, built to strengthen group management and synergy. KOKUYO focused on creating conversation, with a test kitchen at the centre and food at the heart of work.

Client Kewpie Corporation (キユーピー株式会社)Location Sengawa, Chōfu, TokyoCompleted 2013Occupants 1,001 or moreDesign KOKUYO (Yuji Inoue, Eiko Sakikawa); architecture by Nikken SekkeiConstruction Taisei Corporation / KOKUYOAwards Nikkei New Office Award, METI Minister’s Award; Japan Facility Management Award

Concept

DINING and aima

A test kitchen is surrounded by “DINING”, and “aima”, an in-house third place, grows the seeds of conversation in the gaps between tasks. Elements of daily life are scattered through the workplace.

01 · Floors

Labs and offices alternate

Research floors and office floors alternate, so people sense each other’s activity as they move up and down.

02 · Community

Users run it

Spaces for conversation are placed throughout, creating loops. User-led communities with themes help people enjoy shaping the place where they work and live. The project won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at the Nikkei New Office Awards.