Fab 40: Mori X Hako, Fukuyama City

Japan

Keisuke Maeda and UID Architects created this mixed use building in Hiroshima to house their own offices as well as a dental clinic and beauty salon. The MORI×hako building sits on a long narrow plot close to the city's main train station.

See more of the Mori X Hako building

For 34 year-old Maeda, the project was an exercise in increasing urban densities, stacking up dwellings and businesses without ending up with what the architect describes as 'superficial architecture'. By breaking up the site into a series of boxes, the architects have ensured that all tenants get a fair quota of space and light, rather than just the business at the front of the plot.

The wood-lined interiors are characterised by their expansive windows, which gives views through the interior voids to the planted courtyards within. The commercial spaces are decked out in sleek artek and Carl Hansen furniture.

www.maeda-inc.jp/uid

14 October 2009 | Architecture