Cartier’s Japanese headquarters: a harmonious brand interpretation
Tokyo-based studio I IN designs Cartier’s brand new Japanese headquarters

Cartier’s freshly refurbished Japanese headquarters in Tokyo’s Hanzomon quarter are not just an elegant, understated head-turner, the project is also a quiet case study in how a marque’s visual identity can be effectively channelled into something so quotidian as an office space.
For Tokyo-based studio I IN, the specific challenge was to create a setting that enabled Cartier’s staff to feel and touch the brand’s identity on a subliminal level. ‘How could we bring the essence of luxury with which Cartier is associated into its working space?’ asked the studio’s founders, Yohei Terui and Hiromu Yuyama. The solution was to deploy a judicious mix of colour, specially commissioned textiles, and lighting – both natural and artificial – within the open-plan space.
Red, a colour long associated with Cartier, appears in strategic locations – in the plush circular sofa in the foyer, sheathed in Kvadrat fabric; in the raised tatami-matted platform whose piping was created by Kyoto-based artisans Hosoo; and as accents in the staff locker room. Champagne gold, another Cartier hallmark, shows up in vertical floor-to-ceiling louvre panels; plush carpets woven by Yamagata Dantsu, one of Japan’s oldest carpet suppliers; bijoux table stands; abstract chandeliers and wall art; and even in the metal strips in an oversized central work desk.
On every metric, the mood board is resolutely luxurious, not least a harmonious interpretation of a French brand that’s overlaid with a quiet Japanese presence. And with bracing forested views of the Imperial Palace’s gardens, to boot.
This is no mean feat. As Terui and Yuyama point out, office spaces tend to be very functional with limited scope to express a brand’s identity. But as the pair’s work on Cartier’s Japanese headquarters shows, an imaginatively conceived office can also allow its staff ‘to feel and touch the brand’s identity every day on a deeper level’.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
London’s Piraña restaurant combines Japanese-Peruvian fusion with lavishly moody surrounds
Piraña restaurant wraps a delicious Japanese-Peruvian fusion menu in an alluringly moody atmosphere in central London’s Mayfair
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Dover Street Market reissues a rare piece of Comme des Garçons perfume history
Dover Street Market Paris has re-issued the heart-shaped packaging from Comme des Garçons 2 Love Hurts, a limited edition design first launched in 2005
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
The Wallpaper* wellness report: Joining 150 people in the sauna at London’s first contrast therapy centre
For this instalment of the Wallpaper* wellness report, Emma O’Kelly investigates the rise of contrast therapy by joining more than 150 people at the opening night of Arc in London
By Emma O'Kelly Published
-
And the RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 goes to... SANAA!
The RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 winner is announced – Japanese studio SANAA scoops the prestigious architecture industry accolade
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Architect Sou Fujimoto explains how the ‘idea of the forest’ is central to everything
Sou Fujimoto has been masterminding the upcoming Expo 2025 Osaka for the past five years, as the site’s design producer. To mark the 2025 Wallpaper* Design Awards, the Japanese architect talks to us about 2024, the year ahead, and materiality, nature, diversity and technological advances
By Sou Fujimoto Published
-
Tadao Ando: the self-taught contemporary architecture master who 'converts feelings into physical form’
Tadao Ando is a self-taught architect who rose to become one of contemporary architecture's biggest stars. Here, we explore the Japanese master's origins, journey and finest works
By Edwin Heathcote Published
-
The Kumagaya House in Saitama is a modest family home subdivided by a soaring interior
This Kumagaya House is a domestic puzzle box taking the art of the Japanese house to another level as it intersects a minimal interior with exterior spaces, balconies and walkways
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain unveils plans for new Jean Nouvel building
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain has plans for a new building in Paris, working with architect Jean Nouvel
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Shigeru Ban wins 2024 Praemium Imperiale Architecture Award
The 2024 Praemium Imperiale Architecture Award goes to Japanese architect Shigeru Ban
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Pace Tokyo is a flowing Sou Fujimoto experience that ‘guides visitors through the space’
Art gallery Pace Tokyo, designed by Sou Fujimoto in a Studio Heatherwick development, opens in the Japanese capital
By Danielle Demetriou Published
-
How the Arc’teryx Tokyo Creation Centre is all about craft, openness and cross-pollination
Arc’teryx launches its Tokyo Creation Centre, a hub for craftsmanship designed by Torafu Architects, embodying the brand's ethos
By Daniel Scheffler Published