Concept

A factory and store with a curvilinear design that blends in with the surrounding landscape, realized with solid local wood and hand carving.

This large-scale project, which includes a food manufacturing plant, a store, a café, and an experience space, chose “wooden construction” using local wood and soil as the appropriate form of architecture for this environmentally conscious age.

The  building has two main functions: a circular space in the front for the store, and other spaces, and a rectangular space in the factory. The design of the building is based on the idea that the entire building should blend in with the surrounding mountain range, with a large, softly curved roof that wraps around the entire building. Although the roof itself is simple in shape, the carpenters’ advanced hand-chiseling techniques were used to create a wooden structure that is approximately 40 meters in length and width, and whose dimensions vary by millimeters because of the curves in both plan and cross section. The roofing using galvalume steel plates is also done by hand, with each piece bent and applied seamlessly on site. 

The symbolic glass-enclosed circular hall will have thick wooden pillars spaced 1.5 meters apart, and a wooden curtain wall with 7-meter-high drum pillars spaced half as far apart as the pillars themselves. Fan rafters are an important design highlight in each corner of the building.

Almost 100% of the 330m2 of lumber used will be solid cedar and cypress from Nebamura, Nagano Prefecture. On the exterior, the cedar boards were finished with a woodlong eco friendly finish that will allow the building design to age elegantly within its mountain environment. 

Construction completed 31 July 2022. 

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Photo, takeshi noguchi
Drawings, Tono Mirai architects