Torafu Architects: Mediba Creative Farm
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Torafu Architects: Mediba Creative Farm

The Japanese studio has recently completed a scenic, flexible office space in Shibuya, creating a public environment that is constantly changing.

 

News / Daici Ano, Yuki Ohmori

Japanese studio Torafu Architects have recently completed an office for an IT company in Shibuya, Tokyo. The space includes 2,200 square metres of large open areas featuring common spaces, such as the front desk, meeting spaces and work spaces for about 400 workers.

The space features a scenic entrance, with common spaces designed as open, publicly accessible areas. A large meeting room has movable walls — adjustable for small or large-scale events —, on which graphic images inspired by windows of the surrounding buildings are placed. Movable tables, planters, and furniture also change the flexibility of the meeting spaces.

Working spaces are located along large desks arranged at an angle, allowing for a public environment that is constantly changing. Carpet is used according to the different departments of the company, changing colour and direction. As a result corners become junctions, where benches and furniture have been planned to trigger communication between workers.

Torafu Architects, Mediba Creative Farm office spaces in Shibuya, Japan

Shelves are scattered throughout, becoming landmarks in the office's large space. The shelves are made of stained oak, and have a texture of pin-up boards to add warmth to the working space. While these familiar shapes subtly divide up the entire area, it generates a liveliness within the working environment. Adding to the space, a wooden tram controlled by smart phone technology runs slowly by the windows and through the furniture, carrying documents as if to connect the workers together.

"We designed the office so that it can be a platform of ideas with a concept of Creative Farm," state the architects. "We used natural materials and materials so that warmth can be felt within this wide space, even in the urban context of Shibuya."

Torafu Architects, Mediba Creative Farm office spaces in Shibuya, Japan

Torafu Architects, Mediba Creative Farm office spaces in Shibuya, Japan

Torafu Architects, Mediba Creative Farm office spaces in Shibuya, Japan

Torafu Architects, Mediba Creative Farm office spaces in Shibuya, Japan

Torafu Architects, Mediba Creative Farm office spaces in Shibuya, Japan