MTRL Kyoto

Fumihiko Sano – Studio Phenomenon renewed a coworking and office space in Kyoto, Japan, embracing the original charm of the old building.

To start this transformation, the surfaces hiding the original features of the building needed to be demolished. Finding the wooden structure to hold the huge space, adding pillars and hardware to reinforce, revealed the original ideas of the master-carpenter.

One of the purposes for renovation was to embrace the original charm of this old building. Connection between this transformed house and Kyoto also needed to be friendly enough to invite the street itself to the building. This thought was visualised by a newly built facade at the entrance. Walking underneath the steel plate roof to the garden can give an alleyway feel.

Japanese traditional braided bamboo foundation for plastering a wall was kept from the houses original feature inside a pair of sliding glass doors at the balcony’s building skeleton side. Japanese traditional latticework in the ground floor can show Kyoto characteristics as well as enables to see through the inside. Layering FIX glasses on top of this mixes old and modern style to contain the building. Through theis materials mixture the 120 year old building can be felt, and it creates an open space for people to have imaginative and creative experiences.