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      Karimoku Case lines minimalist Tokyo apartment with local wood

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      Japanese brand Karimoku Case has redesigned an apartment on a hilltop in Tokyo, using wood and a neutral colour palette to create a “calm and serene atmosphere”.

      Named Azabu Hills Residence, the project was designed by Karimoku Case – a studio developed by Karimoku Furniture in collaboration with design studios Keiji Ashizawa and Norm Architects.
      The studio used the project as an opportunity to optimise the use of local zelkova wood which is increasingly underutilised.
      The apartment features furniture made from zelkova wood”We sympathized with the story of how zelkova used to be a common material in Japan, but is now being chipped and discarded, and wished to explore the possibilities of zelkova through this project,” lead designer Keiji Ashizawa told Dezeen.
      “When I first saw the sample of it, I felt that its gentle reddish hue, along with its story, was a good match for the project,” he continued.

      “We decided to create the interior using zelkova that would come in harmony with the gentle light from the north side.”
      A neutral material palette creates a “calm and serene atmosphere”The 226-metre-square apartment was centred around a spacious, open-plan living area and dining room illuminated by floor-to-ceiling windows.
      A small workspace nestled behind a wall in the living space makes use of the spacious interior, and is furnished with a desk, chair and shelving made from zelkova wood.
      White plaster walls and wooden floors define the living spacesThe minimalist interior is defined by textured white walls and wood used for flooring, window frames and fittings, which are tied together by cream furnishings, paper lighting fixtures and decorative artwork.
      In the living space, lattice wooden screens were used to separate programmes as well as provide cross ventilation through the space to create airy interiors.

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      “With the residence being located in the middle of a large city like Tokyo, it was important to have a home-like atmosphere that makes you feel at ease,” Ashizawa said.
      “We were conscious of the calmness and tranquility needed to achieve this, and designed the interior with well-curated furniture, lighting, and art to create an environment for this purpose.”
      Wooden, lattice screens allow ventilation through the homeA counter made from zelkova wood divides the living space and adjacent kitchen, while also serving as an additional seating and dining space.
      Within the kitchen, cabinets built from gridded wooden frames were finished with concrete countertops, complemented by tiled terrazzo flooring that also features in the home’s entryway.
      Furnishings, paper lighting fixtures and pieces of artwork tie the interior togetherGridded wooden frames are repeated for both storage in the living area and a wall in the main bedroom where the home transitions into a cosy-feel with carpet flooring.
      A circular chair and marbled table sit in front of the bedroom’s floor-to-ceiling windows, with a study desk nestled into the corner.
      Gridded wooden frames feature in the kitchen, living space and bedroomOther recently completed projects with minimalist interiors include a dental clinic in Montreal designed to feel like “someone’s home” and a London pub converted into a pared-back jewellery showroom.
      The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku. 
      Project credits:
      Architect: Keiji Ashizawa DesignProject architect: Keiji Ashizawa / Ryota MaruyamaClient: reBITA / NTT Urban Development Coperation TokyoConstruction: TamarixFurniture collaboration: Norm ArchitectsFurniture: Karimoku CaseLighting: Kojima Shoten / Saito ShomeiLighting plan: AURORA / Yoshiki IchikawaInterior styling: Yumi Nakata

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      Keiji Ashizawa adds “residential calm” to Aloop clinic in Ginza

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      Japanese architect Keiji Ashizawa has created the interior for a skincare clinic in Tokyo, using textiles and custom-made furniture to make it feel more residential than medical.

      The Aloop Clinic & Lab, which provides “skin cure and care”, is located in the city’s upscale Ginza area and run by Japanese beauty company POLA. Ashizawa wanted to give it an interior that would feel peaceful, while also representing the brand.
      The Aloop clinic has a calm minimalist interior”As a clinic that uses medical technology to deal with beauty, we thought that the space should have sincerity, calmness, and beauty in order to create a comfortable time for customers to feel at ease,” Ashizawa told Dezeen.
      “In addition, considering that this is a completely new business for the POLA beauty brand, we felt that it was necessary to create a space that would enhance the brand.”
      Wood was used throughout the spaceTo do so, Ashizawa looked at the design of the 210-square-metre clinic like he would if he were designing a residential space, giving it a calm, minimalist interior.

      “Although it is a clinic, I considered the space to be similar to a hotel or a living space,” he said. “Therefore, I used materials that I use in designing living spaces and hotels.”
      “The walls are plaster and the floor is a wool rug from Hotta Carpet,” he added. “The sofa and furniture at the characteristic entrance are made of Kvadrat wool textile to create a pleasant texture.”
      Treatment rooms were designed to have a residential feelThe architect used a clean, simple colour palette throughout the space, with white-painted walls contrasting against wooden panelling and wooden doors.
      “Wood was used for doors, furniture and details because we wanted to create a residential calm rather than a clinic,” Ashizawa said. “We felt that a bright and healthy atmosphere was necessary.”
      “The extensive use of wood was to create a residential atmosphere, and we wanted the space to be as far away from a typical clinic as possible,” he added.
      Keiji Ashizawa created custom-made sofas with furniture brand KarimokuHis studio worked together with wooden furniture brand Karimoku to design the custom-made sofas for the space, which welcome customers as they enter the clinic.
      “Of particular importance to this project were the custom sofas,” Ashizawa said.
      “We asked Karimoku, with whom we communicate on a daily basis for furniture development and wood projects, to work with us on the development of the furniture.”

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      He compared his collaboration with the brand to that of mid-century modern Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and furniture brand Artek.
      “For me, Karimoku has become an indispensable partner in thinking about space, just as Aalto is for Artek,” he explained.
      Neutral colours contrast against pale woodBy creating the sofas with rounded edges, Ashizawa aimed for them to “gently envelop” customers after their treatments.
      “The mere fact that something looks hard or painful makes the body tense, so we thought it would be desirable to eliminate such things,” he said.
      “However, in order to maintain a comfortable sense of tension in the room, delicate details of metal and wood were used to achieve a balance.”
      Small sculptures decorate the spaceSmall sculptures were dotted throughout the Aloop clinic, including in the treatment rooms.
      Ashizawa has previously designed an interior with a similar colour palette for the Hiroo Residence in Tokyo, and also used plenty of wood for his and Norm Architects minimalist Trunk Hotel design.
      The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.

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      Keiji Ashizawa Design and Norm Architects create “honest” Trunk Hotel in Tokyo

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      An exposed raw concrete facade fronts the Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park, which Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design and Danish firm Norm Architects conceived as a minimalist retreat in the heart of the city.

      Marking the third location in a trio of Trunk hotels in Tokyo, the design of the boutique hotel was rooted in the concept of “urban recharge”, according to Trunk chief creative officer Masayuki Kinoshita.
      Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park features a raw concrete facadeThe hotel group said the idea was to balance the opposing elements of tradition and modernity as well as nature and the city and the melding of both Japanese and European craft.
      Keiji Ashizawa Design created a textured concrete aggregate facade for the seven-storey building, which is punctuated with steel-lined balconies and overlooks Yoyogi Park’s lush treetops.
      Guest rooms feature a muted colour and material paletteThe studio worked with Norm Architects to design the minimalist interior, accessed via a copper-clad entrance.

      A total of 20 guest rooms and five suites were dressed in a muted colour and material palette featuring hardwood flooring and plush Hotta Carpet-designed rugs informed by traditional Japanese architecture.
      Paper-cord chairs and tapered washi pendant lights contribute to the minimalist designDelicate rattan partition walls delineate spaces within the rooms, which open out onto the building’s balconies that were fitted with slanted ceilings in order to encourage sunlight into each room “as if mimicking the gentle transitions of a day”.
      “It’s been an interesting journey for us to find the right balance between a space that is relaxed and vibrant at the same time,” said Norm Architects co-founder Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen.
      The interiors were designed to be both “relaxed and vibrant”The rooms are also characterised by paper-cord chairs and tapered washi pendant lights as well as abstract artworks, amorphous vases and grainy floor-to-ceiling bathroom tiles.
      On the ground floor, oak seating designed by Norm Architects for Karimoku features in the hotel restaurant, which includes a striking copper-clad pizza oven and the same rattan accents that can be found in the guest rooms.
      Rattan accents can also be found in the hotel restaurant”It is a very unique and gratifying experience in the sense that the architecture, interior and furniture, as well as the attention to detail, have created a space with such a strong sense of unity,” said Keiji Ashizawa Design.
      An open-air pool club is located on the sixth floor of the hotel.

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      Sand-blasted concrete flooring was paired with thin bluey-green tiles that make up the infinity swimming pool, which overlooks the park below.
      A “glowing” firepit can also be set alight after dark, intended to create a soothing contrast with the bright Tokyo skyline.
      The Trunk Hotel features a rooftop infinity poolThe city’s first Trunk Hotel opened in Shibuya in 2017, while the second location is an offbeat one-room hotel in the metropolis’s Kagurazaka neighbourhood featuring its own miniature nightclub.
      The photography is by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen.

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      Japanese garden design informs Tokyo real estate office by Flooat

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      Lush plants and gravel beds feature in the Tokyo offices of real estate company Mitsui & Co, which local interior studio Flooat has designed to be “as stress-free as possible”.

      The workspace is located on the third floor of a 1980s office block in Chiyoda, a special district of Tokyo that is also home to the Imperial Palace.
      Flooat set out to bring new value to the outdated building, creating a working environment that could be “cherished and used for a long time”.
      Mitsui & Co’s office is set in a 1980s office block”In this project, we aimed to create a space that is considerate to both people and the environment by updating the charm of an old building and showing its new value in Tokyo, where there is a notably high rebuilding rate,” the studio told Dezeen.
      The practice was presented with a space that was dark and awkward, with a corridor running down the middle of a long, narrow floor.

      Flooat’s solution involved reducing the interior to a “skeleton” and eliminating the corridor to create a semi-open space for Mitsui & Co’s employees.
      Design studio Flooat used teak wood to line walls and floorsThe remaining walls were adjusted to a height and position that would not block any natural light.
      “The walls are constructed to match the architectural module, giving a sense of depth while dead-end flow lines have been eliminated so that the space can be viewed from various angles,” the studio said.
      “The result is a harmony of function and aesthetic with a clean, simple look.”
      The same timber was also used to clad the newly deepened window surroundsThe surrounds of the windows were deepened and lined with grainy matt-finish teak to bring warmth and character to the office while softening the direct sunlight.
      The same timber was also used to wrap around walls, floors, windows and doors.
      “To create harmony in the space, we selected trees with similar characteristics,” Flooat said. “Employees spend a lot of time in the office, so we aim to create a natural space that is as stress-free as possible.”
      Comfortable seating areas were created next to the windowsFlooat used partitions at various heights, alongside different floor levels and furniture heights to create dedicated areas for different modes of working.
      Sofas and low tables were installed close to windows, allowing visitors to sit and take in the outside world in a relaxed environment.
      Long communal tables provide space for focused work while another area serves as a lounge where Mitsui & Co’s staff can mingle with others in the building.
      “Instead of sitting in the same seat all the time, we have created an environment where people can move around, creating opportunities for communication and a natural flow of people in the office,” the studio said.

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      Different zones are demarcated via narrow tracts of gravel laid into troughs in the floor.
      “Borders are indicated in such a way as to give every area its own independence, evoking the pleasing features of a Japanese landscape garden with a tea house,” the studio said.
      “The pebble is a sign for switching spaces, a modern representation of the uniquely Japanese way of communicating signs.”
      Different floor levels and gravel beds help to delineate areasPlants with lush green foliage introduce a soft organic element to the space, providing a link to nature within the city.
      “We placed large plants on the symbolic tables where people tend to congregate,” the studio said.
      “We also considered the shadows created by the trees as an element of comfort. Organic, natural shapes also help to reduce tension and create a cosy atmosphere.”
      The natural grain of the wood serves a decorative functionA cavernous meeting room pod is set into one of the partition walls, enveloped in a grey textile surround that was chosen for its sound-absorbing qualities.
      “This gives the impression of a cave,” the studio said. “Once inside, the space gives a sense of security and allows people to concentrate on communication. It’s a place where you don’t have to worry about other people’s eyes and voices.”
      For the furniture, Flooat chose enduring design pieces that date back to before the building’s construction in 1983, in a bid to create a sense of timelessness.
      A meeting room pod is integrated into one of the partition walls”We wanted to revive the interior of an old building and choose furniture that would be appropriate for a place that will still be used in the future,” said Flooat.
      “We used furniture in the lounge space that was designed in the 1960s, for example, and is still being produced today.”
      Mitsui & Co’s office has been shortlisted in the small workplace interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      Also in the running is the office of digital artist Andrés Reisinger, with surreal details that nod to his otherworldly renderings, and the library of the Cricket Club of India, which is nestled amongst tree-like wooden columns.
      The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.

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