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      Semba Corporation creates own office interior from reclaimed materials

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      Interior construction firm Semba Corporation has renovated the interior of its headquarters in Tokyo to include reclaimed materials discarded during the demolition of other offices.

      The company’s redesign of its own office interior is shortlisted in the sustainable interior category for the upcoming Dezeen Awards, which will announce its winners next month.
      The interior is made from materials salvaged from demolished officesCalled Semba Good Ethical Office, the project features various pared-back tables, seating and shelving created from materials salvaged from previous office demolitions.
      This furniture is positioned across a single open-plan space in Japan’s capital, which is brightly illuminated by overhead lighting and rectilinear windows.
      Plinth-like seating and stairs forms a centrepieceA plinth-like centrepiece takes the form of both a staircase and a designated desk area, which was formed from boxy arrangements of surplus wood and old filing cabinets.

      Semba Corporation centred the interiors around two principles – “ethical” and “hackable” design – in order to complete the project, the company said.
      Semba Corporation applied its own design principles to the project”To incorporate ‘ethical design’, a circular interior design [theory], into the office renovation, we mined materials from unnecessary stuff generated by office demolitions,” Semba Corporation told Dezeen.
      “Under the theme of ‘hackable design’, we can redefine our working style and attitudes. We completely renovated our office to be friendly to the Earth, people and society,” explained the firm.
      Reconstituted foam was used to create padding on benchesAccording to the company, 80 per cent of the furniture in the Semba Good Ethical Office is reused, while the office achieved a waste-recycling rate of 99 per cent.
      Reconstituted foam was used to create the padding on benches that make up informal meeting booths, while various offcuts of wood were used to construct geometric shelves throughout the interior.

      Ten self-designed studios by architects and designers

      Semba Corporation explained that it hopes that other firms will begin to adopt similar design principles when creating their office interiors.
      “Especially in Japan, the lifespan from construction to demolition and disposal has become very short since [increasing] economic growth, and waste has been dumped in landfill,” the firm said.
      “However, Japanese culture has originally valued attachment to things and has an aesthetic sense to continue to use them with creative ideas. So I think our principles have an affinity to that culture.”
      “We hope that ‘ethical design,’ a future-friendly interior design, will be a basic principle in interior design for the future.”
      Reclaimed wood was used to form various shelvingSemba Good Ethical Office joins a group of existing self-designed studios that other firms have created to be more sustainable than the average office, according to the companies.
      These include German studio Urselmann Interior’s renovation of its studio to include biodegradable, recycled or upcycled materials.
      The images are courtesy of Semba Corporation.

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      Domino Architects divides reusable sales showroom with fabric walls

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      Sheer curtains that look like translucent walls were used to divide up the structure of this temporary showroom space in Japan created by Domino Architects.

      Shortlisted in the large retail interiors category of Dezeen Awards 2022, PROUD Gallery Gotanda aims to offer a solution to the wasteful practice of producing condominium showrooms – temporary structures near new developments that are used as a base for sales teams.
      The showroom was created by Domino ArchitectsThe showrooms, which are usually built and then demolished within a matter of years once the units are all sold, typically contain a customer reception and seating area, as well as rooms for meetings and presentations. These are all styled with the target customer in mind.
      “It’s like a theme park with effects to motivate people to buy,” said the architecture studio.
      “As entertainment, it is very interesting, but we wonder if this method of spending a large amount of energy each time is really appropriate for this age.”

      Arches were constructed using mesh curtainsDomino Architects worked with HAKUTEN and Nozomi Kume from Studio Onder de Linde to create a more sustainable alternative for Nomura Real Estate Development and its PROUD condominium brand in Tokyo.
      Built using the prefabricated skeleton structure of an existing Nomura showroom, the layout of PROUD Gallery Gotanda is easy to change, expand and reconstruct.

      Beyond Space drapes one kilometre of fabric across Amsterdam office

      The steel structure is wrapped with light curtains while the partitions inside the business meeting space are made from “foldable walls”, which are curtains with a wall-like thickness.
      These foldable walls have arched openings and can be repositioned so that the layout can be easily changed according to purpose.
      “By carefully examining the sheen, curves, and colour overlap of the curtains, we were able to create an elegant and light space that does not feel like a rugged prefabricated structure,” the studio said.
      The arches can be moved and repositionedThe materials and samples used in the planned condominiums are subtly incorporated into the interior as part of the showroom’s furniture and fixtures.
      The idea is to allow the buyer to imagine a space rather than be entirely dictated to.
      In Amsterdam, design studio Beyond Space has created an office interior in Amsterdam that uses rippling laser-cut fabric to form cave-like spaces for working.
      The photography is by Gottingham.

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      OEO Studio adds Nordic influences to Japandi-style apartment in Tokyo

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      Copenhagen-based OEO Studio combined muted colours and textured materials to create the interiors for this renovated Tokyo apartment that is characterised by its Japandi design.

      Located within the Opus Arisugawa housing complex in central Tokyo, the apartment’s interior was renovated to combine design influences from Japan and Scandinavia – a trend known as Japandi.
      The apartment’s interiors take cues from Japanese and Scandinavian designOEO Studio intended to create a serene atmosphere by adopting minimalist interior design and mainly natural materials throughout, both of which are hallmarks of the Japandi style.
      The apartment’s entryway includes a rammed-earth wall surrounded by a slatted rectilinear wardrobe that was custom-made in calming honey-hued wood.
      Curvy sofas feature in the living roomLow-slung concrete seating is also built into the hallway, which doubles as a sculptural plinth for a ceramic vase by Christian Bruun.

      A mixture of deep indigo tiles and paper yarn rugs made from Finnish birch but embroidered with Japanese textile-style patterns cover the floors.
      Wooden cabinetry lines the kitchen”The interiors reflect the studio’s cross-pollination of Japanese and Scandinavian design ideas, drawing inspiration from both cultures and reinterpreting them in new ways,” said the firm.
      The hallway leads to an open-plan living room filled with interiors in neutral tones, including cool stone floors and sleek furniture finished in smoked oak, oiled pinewood and soft wool.

      OEO Studio creates colourful cantina for Copenhagen eatery Hija de Sanchez

      Curvy Taylor sofas by Shanghai brand Stella Works are arranged around an organically shaped timber coffee table, while artworks by Jaakko Mattila line the walls.
      Japanese Ōya stone was used for the columns that divide the living area and brightly lit kitchen, which includes tactile wooden cabinetry.
      A minimal dining space with black-stained ash chairs also features alongside the kitchen.
      The bedrooms are defined by the same refined styleThe apartment’s three bedrooms also have a mixture of refined textures and shapes, while the singular pared-back bathroom displays a statement wooden bathtub at its centre.
      “We worked carefully with the zoning and the transitions between the rooms in the apartment to create an evocative yet calm, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere,” said OEO Studio.
      A light wooden bathtub features in the bathroomFounded in 2003, OEO Studio has created a number of similar projects including a Tokyo restaurant that references both Danish carpentry and Japanese gardens in its interiors.
      The firm recently created a cafe and shop at Designmuseum Denmark that pays homage to architect Kaare Klint’s original design.
      The photography is by Michinori Aoki.

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