JAPAN'S BEST-DESIGNED OFFICES
Concept
Blue, timber, planting — and no solid walls
The office is built on well-being: a place where people are comfortable in body and mind and can therefore do what they are capable of. The palette is a calm blue, with timber and planting brought in so that it reads as both polished and natural.
The layout was drawn around sightlines and the routes people take. Making the partitions glass means the waiting area looks through to the working floor — light passes, and so, the company says, does the airiness of the culture.
01 · Guest area
Where the thinking shows
The guest area follows straight on from the entrance and is described as the place that sums up the whole office. Every meeting room is glazed, which keeps them bright and makes them easier to speak openly in.
02 · Lockers
A bench where conversation starts
The locker area is where people stop on the way in and on the way out. The route through it was planned for putting things away easily, and a bench was added so that a conversation can happen there.
03 · Work area
Monotone desks, softer meetings
The work area is free address with an open meeting area built into it, so that people gather without arranging to. The desks are kept monotone for concentration; the meeting area brings in timber and planting. The company describes it as concentration and expansion held in balance by the room itself.
04 · Meeting spaces
Booths for a few, a room for many
Internal meetings are split between booth seats for small groups and a room for larger ones, kept separate from the desks so that every place stays easy to concentrate in.
05 · Refresh area
Limited to resting
The refresh area is deliberately restricted to breaks. Different lighting, different furniture and a generous footprint make it read as somewhere other than work.
06 · Outside
Parks, within the walk
The company closes the tour outside: the building sits within walking distance of Kōjimachi and Yotsuya, with parks nearby, and the walk in and out is counted as part of the day.
