March’s winner of the month is the aptly named Not A Hotel, a terraced mixed-use living and hospitality space in Fukuoka, Japan.
Not a Hotel Fukuoka, a design collaboration between A.N.D., Nomura Co., Ltd., Axonometric, and NKS2 Architects, has claimed the top spot in the March FRAME Awards competition. Submitted to the Hotel category, the hybrid living-hospitality space scored an overall 8.78. Blending functions as a private living space and hotel, Not a Hotel provides a variety of spaces suited to different stay lengths and user needs. The hotel allows guests to experience Fukuoka as temporary residents, fostering cultural exchange and community engagement. Budiman Ong, cofounder of Ong Cen Kuang and Jia Curated, remarked that Not A Hotel represents a significant departure from the spatial design and use case of a traditional hotel, saying: ‘It’s beautiful human-community centric design. I am fully onboard with this direction for future hotels.’
Photo: Courtesy of A.N.D., Nomura Co., Ltd., Axonometric, and NKS2 Architects
The design of the structure was achieved by ‘stacking’ the eight separate units, resulting in a multifaceted building full of greenery, shade and privacy. The architecture ensures an uninterrupted view of the adjacent park and greenery on the hotel's façade helps to blend the space with its surroundings.
Photo: Cesar Bejar
Casa Tobi by Espacio 18 Arquitectura has been named as March's first honourable mention (House, 8.71). Located on the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico, the home is built on a slope, framing views of the ocean and surrounding hills. The top floor is dedicated to a terrace and reflecting pool, as well as an entrance to the house that draws the visitor through a narrow corridor into the main living space. Here, a large double-height room with openings frames the property's view, with the bedrooms located on the lowest floor. Casa Tobi’s exterior harmonizes with its surrounding landscape, making use of a mirroring colour palette.
Photo: Amit Geron
Terracotta Townhouse by Pitsou Kedem Architects was the next runner-up, impressing the judges with its nod to historical building techniques and its privacy (House, 8.66). Approximately 14,000 bricks were custom-moulded for the project and secured using rods to form both solid and perforated walls. The perforated walls promote natural cooling, shading the rooms of the house and functioning as breezeblocks. A small courtyard brings elements of nature to home's outdoor living spaces.
Photo: Yoichi Onoda
SLOWP – designed by Snark Inc. and submitted to the Cultural Space category – has been named the third honourable mention with an overall score of 8.51. The space consists of four huts built with a traditional Japanese wooden frame construction, serving as the company’s own showroom. As a showroom, SLOWP highlights the potential for flexible living with huts, allowing people to adjust the size of their living spaces as their needs change. As a community space, SLOWP is home to workshops, open to community members, that stress the value of slow, nature-driven craftsmanship.
Photo: Andrea Rossetti and Héctor Chico. Image courtesy of LAS Art Foundation. © UNA / UNLESS 2024
The final runner-up is A Pavilion for Swell of Spæcies designed by Una/Unless (Exhibition, 8.48). The pavilion is situated in a courtyard that, from 1565 to 1831, housed a church by Renaissance architect Jacopo Sansovino. Made to house an exhibition for the Venice Biennale by Venice’s art school, Accademia de Belle Arti, the pavilion itself is a bright blue triangular prism with ultra-high-shine surfaces that reflect the colonnades surrounding the courtyard. The pavilion is at once a contemporary spatial intervention and a tribute to what stood there before: inside the bright blue prism, a structure traces the original footprint of Sansovino’s church.
