This project involved the renovation of guest rooms and common areas at a hot spring ryokan. We achieved a new hotel-like style that overturned conventional ideas of ryokan.

From the ryokan’s name and logo to the guest room experience, we created a consistent story throughout. Circumstances surrounding the site and building led us to change the location of the entrance, offering visitors the rare experience of a bridge approach that serves to heighten the sense of excitement upon arrival.

Our design extended to more subtle aspects, including the creation of cards featuring the ryokan’s logo, as well as original lighting made in collaboration with local traditional craftsman Takumi Terauchi of Toyooka Kiryu Zaiku.

For guest rooms, we adopted an approach that was unprecedented among ryokan, including treating the veranda space as a semi-outdoor terrace, with curtains installed on the room’s interior.

(Project completed while at UDS)