Renovated office in leafy Japanese resort town reconnects with the outdoors
Kanagawa-based architect Yuji Tanabe transforms an existing commercial building into a modern, flexible office in Japan's Karuizawa

Yuji Tanabe - Photography
Yuji Tanabe has completed a thorough conversion of a tired, existing commercial building in the pretty resort town of Karuizawa in Japan, into a modern, flexible office space. The structure, which used to host a restaurant, has now been updated with contemporary design strokes inside, and a modern folly structure just outside the main building, aiming to bring some fun and lightness into the composition.
The original structure occupied a V-shaped footprint, with one wing spanning two levels and the other just one. The redesign maintained this arrangement, dedicating the whole ground floor to workspace, interspersed with break areas and a cafe for users to relax and socialise. The cafe spills out onto a large terrace, where guests can enjoy the site's – and wider area's – green scenery.
By reinforcing structural columns, the architects were able to free the interior from many partitions, especially on the upper level that was previously divided into small, darker rooms. In fact, subtle, technical but necessary changes were made throughout to bring the space to the 21st century and meet the demands of a contemporary workspace, such as ensuring there are hidden cable racks in various spots, adding insulation to promote natural heat retention in the winter and replacing the old ventilation system with a new, more energy efficient one.
In a similar way, the landscaping outside was cleared to give way to pathways and the site's signature tree – the birch. The grey painted, geometric timber folly – which matches the tone on the main building's cedar wood cladding – is also placed just outside the main entrance, providing extra seating space among the trees. The colour was selected to be as unobtrusive as possible and the set up references local design traditions: ‘The higher level allows people to sit more freely, like sitting on an Engawa, an edging strip of floor surrounding the inner part of a house in Japanese traditional architecture,' says Tanabe.
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Puiforcat brings something new to the table with a wooden cutlery set
Jasper Morrison's collection for Puiforcat features cherry wood cutlery finished with fuki-urushi lacquering, a first foray into wood for the silverware company
-
A clifftop Rethymno house tells a story, framing views as far as the Libyan Sea
This house in Rethymno on the Greek island of Crete, designed by architects Gkotsis Serafimidou, is rich in local and natural materials – an oasis at which to disconnect
-
Waldorf Astoria Maldives rolls out a rare Ferrari joyride for guests
Waldorf Astoria Maldives, in partnership with Hedley Studios, allows guests to test-drive a scaled-down, all-electric version of Ferrari’s 250 Testa Rossa
-
Mayumi Miyawaki’s Fukumura Cottage puts this lesser-known Japanese modernist in the spotlight
Discover the little-known modernist architect through this private home in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture countryside
-
A Karuizawa house is a soothing, work-from-home retreat in Japan
Takeshi Hirobe Architects play with scale and space, creating a tranquil residence in which to live and work
-
Naoshima New Museum of Art is a home for Asian art, and a lasting legacy, in Seto Inland Sea
The Naoshima New Museum of Art opens, marking a seminal addition to the Japanese island's renowned Benesse Art Site Naoshima; we explore Tadao Ando's design
-
Behind a contemporary veil, this Kyoto house has tradition at its core
Designed by Apollo Architects & Associates, a Kyoto house in Uji City is split into a series of courtyards, adding a sense of wellbeing to its residential environment
-
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa on harmony, nature and their RIBA gong
The SANAA duo are celebrating their RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025 in London today, and talked to us about self-reflection, the year ahead, and the need to create harmony in our environment
-
New book 'I-IN' brings together Japanese heritage and minimalist architecture at its finest
Japanese architecture studio I-IN flaunts its expert command of 21st-century minimalism in a new book by Frame Publishers
-
Giant rings! Timber futurism! It’s the Osaka Expo 2025
The Osaka Expo 2025 opens its microcosm of experimental architecture, futuristic innovations and optimistic spirit; welcome to our pick of the global event’s design trends and highlights
-
2025 Expo Osaka: Ireland is having a moment in Japan
At 2025 Expo Osaka, a new sculpture for the Irish pavilion brings together two nations for a harmonious dialogue between place and time, material and form