Schemata Architects
The interior realization of TOKYO NODE cafe by {tag:pracownie} is the connective tissue between the Toranomon Hills Station Tower, designed by Shohei Shigematsu, and TOKYO NODE, the new hub for creative businesses in the Japanese capital. The cafe is a space for engineers to work and an area for relaxation and leisure. So the architects gave it an unfinished character, and therefore more versatile.
Workstations in the TOKYO NODE laboratory
© Kenta Hasegawa
TOKYO NODE cafe is a cafe adjacent to the laboratory located on the 8th floor of Toranomon Hills Station Tower. The entire floor serves as the entrance to the TOKYO NODE complex, which occupies the 8th floor and the 45th to 49th floors of the building. In this context, the café provides a cozy hideaway in a corner of the skyscraper.
A dialogue between studios of great caliber: OMA and Schemata Architects
Toranomon Hills Station Tower was designed by architect Shohei Shigematsu of the New York branch of the OMA studio. The courtyard in front of the skyscraper creates movement on a horizontal plane, while TOKYO MODE brings the building to life vertically. Both spaces were designed to improve communication and create a lively atmosphere both in the building and throughout the district. TOKYO NODE is intended to be the backbone of Mori Building's innovation, combining business, art, technology and entertainment, while Node, or node, is meant to connect the world and Japan and cross borders. Schemata Architects undertook the interior design of a café and laboratory to support TOKYO NODE's activities.
Tokyo NODE is an activity that combines business, entertainment and art
© Kenta Hasegawa
Tokyo Node at Toranomon Hills Station Tower
The 8th floor welcomes TOKYO NODE visitors with a red carpet. The lab required a different atmosphere, as it was to be an environment where employees can relax and be creative. The Tokyo studio's idea, therefore, was to create a space always open to change, as opposed to the "finite nature" of other spaces in the building. In addition, given that the café is located relatively far from ground level, the designers focused on offering a place where TOKYO NODE's guests can spend time in a relaxed atmosphere, rather than sitting "on top of each other" at tables densely spaced around the premises. In their design, Schemata Architects removed the suspended ceiling and red carpet to reveal concrete and a raised floor. The result is a café in which the void plays a large role, thus deviating from the deeply defined specificity of the rest of the building.
Café in twilight
© Kenta Hasegawa
Unschematic interior from Schemata Architects
Red, an element from the site's past, was used in the interior and furniture, thus creating a continuation of the space designed by Shohei Shigematsu of OMA NY. The architects furnished the café with slightly worn, non-uniform chairs and placed tables of various sizes in irregular spacing. The materials used are characterized by warm textures, thus creating a relaxing and cozy atmosphere. The lab uses a system of easily modifiable desks and partitions to accommodate constant changes and updates.
Drawing from the context of the entire building, the architectural action of discovery and demolition rewrites the building's character and brings together diverse people and functions.
Technical drawing of TOKYO NODE cafe
© Schemata Architects
Ania Kociucka
[based on author's description by architect Shota Miyashita].
