LIXIL — new head office: an office built as a “second home”, with a reception made from the company’s own louvres

Concept

A second home

LIXIL’s concept for the head office was a “second home”, and the designers turned it into a feeling of home. Natural materials are used throughout, and the ceiling and floor change from area to area, dividing the floor the way walls divide a house into rooms.

The scale is kept human, and people choose where to work according to what they are doing.

01 · Reception

A lattice door in terracotta

The reception is modelled on the kōshi lattice doors of Japanese houses, and it is built from LIXIL’s own terracotta louvres — the company’s products brought into its office.

02 · Light

Like a living room and a bedroom

Part of the lighting was changed to downlights, spotlights and pendants with a warm colour. The light differs from area to area, as it would between a living room and a bedroom.

03 · Wood

Sen, and louvres overhead

The main timber is sen, a species specified by LIXIL, with sheet and melamine finishes chosen to match it. The louvres come in several versions, some wrapping over the head.

04 · Work

Rooms within a floor

Across the floor, planting, shelving and changes of material mark out each area as its own room.