Page 97 - AIT0426_E-Paper

Entwurf • Design SYMBOLPLUS, JP-Tokio
Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan
Schnitt • Section
Bauherr • Client SYMBOLPLUS, JP-Tokio
Standort • Location Suginami, JP-Tokio
Nutzfläche • Floor space 75 m 2
Fotos • Photos Keishin Horikoshi, JP-Tokio
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 142
SYMBOLPLUS OFFICE
IN TOKYO
Sometimes the future begins with just a quiet step back-
wards. In their own office in Tokyo, the interior architects
and designers at Symbolplus demonstrate the creative
power that lies in consistent reduction. The careful trans-
formation of a wooden building by Akio Hayashi transla-
tes material honesty and spatial discipline into a working
environment that has a powerful effect.
T he Tokyo designers’ new office premises read just like a careful
continuation of the already existing building. Instead of ordering
a demolition or an expressive renovation, the team pursued a clear
approach: preserve what is already in existence, avoid any artificial
surfaces and only make changes where they are definitely functionally
necessary. This credo shaped every decision that the team made during
the planning and implementing phase and now lends the project a calm
self-evidence that has become unfortunately so rare in today’s discourse
on how to design offices. The starting point was a simple yet ambitious
question: how should an office function today, when hybrid working
has long been the norm? The planners sought answers not in new typo-
logies, but in timeless qualities such as tradition, precision craftsman-
ship and the sensual depth of natural materials. Only regionally sour-
ced materials were used: red earth from Ishikawa for the multi-layered
plaster surfaces, recycled Washi paper, local cedar- and cypress wood
as well as native oils. Synthetic coatings and adhesives were completely
avoided. Every detail was crafted by local artisans who visibly appre-
ciated texture, irregularity and patina. The real innovative power thus
lies not only in the spatial design, but also in the intelligent reuse of
existing resources. This is particularly impressive in the newly develo-
ped Shoji elements: Tosa Washi, originally discarded as too fragile, was
processed in multiple layers and thus transformed into robust sliding
walls that now ensure spatial flexibility: they divide work areas into
zones, create welcome temporary retreats and elegantly conceal shelves
and technology in meeting areas. The ceiling also follows the principle
of controlled restraint: rotating wooden panels only reveal the lighting
when needed, thus minimizing visual distraction. Technical components
cleverly fade into the background, allowing spatial clarity to remain in
the foreground. Symbolplus sees its own office as a flexible vessel for
hybrid forms of work: the design is deliberately open to appropriation,
signs of use and future adaptations, and it is precisely in this quiet pre-
cision that the project unfolds its greatest strength ...
AIT 4.2026 • 097