Work in the forest

|DATA

Design: Hironao Sato Site: 3-4-30 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo 32 Shibakoen Building 3rd floor Structure: RC Scale: Interior Use: Office Completion: 2023.08
Photo: Hironao Sato

｜CONCEPT

Vintage building on a cape

Mita 4-Chome, where our previous office was located, was named "Cape of the Moon" by Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Until the Edo period, it was a special place with the sea stretching out below and shell mounds and ruins from the Jomon period remaining.

Shiba Park, where the park will be relocated in 2023, is located on a cape opposite Tsukimi Cape.
At its tip lies the Shibamaruyama Kofun, a keyhole-shaped tumulus, and it is not difficult to imagine how spectacular it must have been when viewed from the sea. This place has also been a special place for life and ceremonies since ancient times.
Even today, it remains one of Tokyo's most powerful spots, with Zojoji Temple, Shiba Park, and Tokyo Tower towering over it.

"32 Shibakoen Building" was constructed by Takenaka Corporation in May 1977. It is one of Mori Building's early numbered buildings, and is a stately vintage building overlooking Tokyo Tower and Shiba Park.

Work in the forest

Before your eyes spreads the lush greenery of Shiba Park, a sight you wouldn't expect in the heart of the city.
Making the most of this green space was the main theme of this plan.

A large counter table is located in the center of the office space.
The glass top of the counter table reflects the greenery outside, adding a touch of greenery to the interior.
This green reflection continues onto the conference table and the projection glass at the back, which also serves as a whiteboard.

The desks are arranged in a U-shape along the wall, so that people can concentrate without facing each other, and when they turn around, Meetings can be held at the counter table .

There is a huge central air conditioning duct in the ceiling, which would be too overwhelming if exposed, so part of the ceiling was left as it is.
The extent to which demolition should be carried out cannot be determined at a desk, so thorough investigation is important.

One of the problems with a skeleton ceiling is how to organize the various existing wiring, but a raceway is directly attached to the top of the wall so that it is not noticeable, creating a highly flexible system that allows wiring to be inserted and removed freely.

All miscellaneous files and books such as project documents and catalogues are hidden behind doors to create a neat and tidy space.
The furniture is suspended from the floor by a steel frame. Attention was paid to detail, such as the combination of wood and steel surfaces and the beveled edges of the desk to provide a gentle fit for the elbows.

Eco-friendly rubberwood

The new office also serves as the office for the leather brand SYRINX , and for that reason, materials that have a story to tell are carefully selected, befitting a leather brand.

The wood used for the furniture is rubberwood (rubber laminated wood).

Rubber trees are planted in South America and Southeast Asia to harvest natural rubber. However, if they are not replanted every 25-30 years, the strength of the sap will decline. The wood is prone to rot, insect infestation, and warping, so it was previously worthless and was burned in large quantities.
It was a Japanese company, Nikka Japan Co., Ltd., that solved these numerous problems. Rubberwood was born from the Japanese concept of "Mottainai."
Rubber grows in hot climates and is fast-growing. It is an "environmentally friendly wood" that helps reduce CO2 emissions by fixing carbon when used as laminated lumber.
In addition, most laminated wood in the same price range is made from conifers, which are lightweight and soft, while hardwood rubber is strong enough to be used as a countertop, easy to process, and takes on a nice finish when painted.

SYRINX is a leather brand, but hides are a by-product of processed cattle, and if they are not put to good use as leather, they will have no choice but to be incinerated.
Waste rubber trees are also a by-product of natural rubber production, and unless they are put to good use as composite lumber, they have no choice but to be incinerated.
There is no wood more suitable for SRYINX than rubberwood, which has a similar background to leather.

However, rubberwood is rarely used in places where design is required due to its cheap image. This time, we tried to make the rubberwood grain look high-quality by dyeing it lightly and calming the color unevenness and saturation.

Ezo deer leather

The doors of the furniture in the conference space are covered in Ezo deer leather, which is certified by More Trees, a forest conservation organization headed by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto.

"In Japan, the deer population has increased dramatically, and the damage it causes to agricultural produce and forests has become serious. At More Trees, we see deer as a blessing for the forests, and we want to develop new ways to utilize deer materials in Japan as an effort to reduce the ever-increasing deer population." (Quoted from the More Trees website)

This idea resonated with me, and I decided to use it in SYRINX's Speaker Log (which won a special prize at the Social Products Awards 2018), which is how I first encountered this leather.

Because it is made from wild deer leather, it has a rough appearance, and still bears the scars from clashing antlers and holes from hunting rifles.

Since humans have driven wolves to extinction, Ezo deer have no natural predators. As a result, their numbers have increased to the point where they are destroying all forest vegetation. To combat this damage, more than 100,000 Ezo deer are captured annually, but little progress has been made in making effective use of their hides.
We are destroying the ecosystem, and as a result, we are taking an ever-increasing number of lives. We have a responsibility not to waste those lives, but to use them carefully until the very end.
This product was carefully crafted with the hope of giving thanks for the blessings of life and inspiring people to think about sustainable forest environments. The leather is vegetable tanned, and the color and luster deepen over time, gradually changing to a beautiful amber color.

Connected Table

Since the furniture will be installed on the wall, it is all made to order, but it has been systemized into 1m modules to allow for future reuse.

In particular, the conference table "Connected Table" has been registered as a design with the aim of selling it.
The whole structure is made up of U-shaped steel frames that fit together in a criss-cross pattern.
However, it is not stable as it is. Therefore, we came up with the idea of fastening the frames together using wooden timbers, creating a very stable and sturdy structure that does not wobble at all. By simply removing the screws, it can be easily put back into the parts.

It achieves high functionality with minimal elements, and is a design that pursues the minimalism that is characteristic of our company and SYRINX.