We promote Ethical Design, which aims to create a better society across the entire supply chain with “compassion” for people, local societies and the natural environment. As for “ISUMI Glamping Resort & Spa SOLAS”, we created a facility based on the theme of “coexisting with environment and blending into them”. In Isumi City, the sea is close by and we can enjoy full of stars all year round. Despite such an excellent location, the land, which was once a golf course, was ruined and not used effectively. We regenerated there into a village-type glamping facility.

We created the main building with a lobby lounge and spa as a large spacious space　with a ceiling height of over 9 meters, using the large-span timber structure of wood. By blurring the boundary between the exterior and the interior with full-height, openable glass, we can feel at one with nature. For the wall displays, we used Japanese white birches in their natural state with branches left on. Although it is strong enough to be used as furniture, it is conventionally used as cheap raw materials for pulp and paper in Japan. We created displays using white birches in its original form to appeal its value and beauty. We’d like to contribute to the revitalization of the domestic forestry industry and the sustainable circulation of forests, by reassessing Japan’s forest resources and giving value to familiar things.

We adopted shipping containers for the structures of some villas from an environmental perspective, as it generates less waste in the construction site and is easier to relocate, reuse, extend and reconstruct. We used many Ethical Material for interior materials for dome tents and villas and paving materials in the sauna area. As Ethical Material, we gather sustainability and ethical conscious materials from our original perspective and selection criteria and research the way to recycle materials after use and to utilize recycled resources. In this facility, we used Ethical Materials, such as wall material and boards made from waste materials such as eggshells and coffee bean grounds, flooring materials made from 100% natural resources, paving materials made from recycled waste roof tiles, and wood chips from thinning and waste wood.

We also designed the landscape and arranged accommodations to allow guests to relax without worrying about other guests, utilizing the uneven original land shape. We also carefully arranged the tent sauna, open-air bath, water bath, and Finnish sauna and guided eyes to the mountain ridges and the sky above them to allow guests to admire the natural landscape. Guests can enjoy the cherry trees which have grown there naturally from the open-air baths.

We were able to create a facility where people could enjoy great outdoors and the starry sky, based on the ethically correct methods, which did not burden the environment. We will continue to propose designs that combine sustainability and aesthetic towards the realization of circular society.