Maruhiro Office “Ouchi” by DDAA for Legacy Ceramics Brand Hasami.

With minimal intervention, Tokyo-based studio DDAA has designed a new kind of workplace interior for legacy ceramics brand Hasami. The interior provides a new lease on life for the heritage building while respecting its integrity.

Located just behind “Hiroppa”, a park complex currently under planning by DDAA, the 86 year old Japanese house was devised as a showroom, a kitchen for making lunch boxes to eat in the neighbouring park and residence space for collaboration with artists in addition to the office.

Working with half of the original budget due to the world catastrophe we all know a little too intimately, the goal of the project became to boldly change the impression of the existing building with as little modification as possible while creating a space that is not fixed in function or concept.

Japanese Wooden houses are designed to allow for flexible and repeated expansion and renovation in the first place. It can be said that one of the characteristics of Japanese housing is that it does not peak at the time of completion, but can gradually change its appearance according to the situation. This Japanese house was no exception with the existing kitchen, warehouse, entrance, all being extended.

DDAA proposed to make as few changes as possible to the existing conditions and to remove the floor from the room where the tatami mats were laid. The floor was removed and concrete was poured, leaving the magnificent stone plinth foundation that appeared. Along with the concrete floor, the legs of the desk at the height of the original floor were provided also in concrete.

Chairs can often cause damage to tatami mats so DDAA removed the tatami, and at the same time, the ceiling height was raised as the floor was lowered. All the paper and glass were removed from the yukimi-shoji screens, lattice frame’s with translucent paper on top and glass on the lower part, providing a view of the garden from the inside. Since the floor has been lowered, the garden is at eye level when sitting on a chair. The tokonoma, which came to a relatively high position, also suits the gaze of modern life. A rolling round mirrored door that also serves as a sign for the entrance was installed on the existing shoji frame.

On the second floor, tatami mats were replaced with wooden boards to create a residence space for artists. The wall below the nageshi, a decorative material that connects columns horizontally, is covered with the same lauan plywood as the floor, and no additional work has been done above that.

By slightly changing its relationship, the original meaning of the space has been altered. In this way it is a sustainable and effective way to utilize existing stock, such as vacant houses. After completion, plans to use it not only as an office, but also as a tea shop, a pop-up store, and a rental space have immediately surfaced.

Related: U.LAB Atelier in Seoul by Design Studio U.LAB.

[Images courtesy of DDAA. Photography by Kenta Hasegawa.]