This is a plan for a restaurant specializing in wagyu beef, mainly Omi beef. We wanted to create a restaurant that would make the most of the tranquil scenery and natural beauty of Omihachiman, Japan. The name Kankankan reflects the client's desire to “relax and enjoy delicious local meat and cuisine while admiring the peaceful scenery.”

For the exterior of the building, we used materials that evoke the image of soil and stone rooted in the land in order to blend in with the surrounding area, and we kept the form as simple as possible to emphasize the feel of the materials.

In addition, the façade was intentionally made closed, so when you enter the building, you can see the scenery through the large windows. The view from this location is spectacular, with the countryside spreading out in front of you, and you can see the mountains and wide sky in the distance. It was designed so that this wonderful view can be seen from all seats.

In the open kitchen in the center of the seating hall on the first floor, you can watch the restaurant's signature cuisine, the high-quality Japanese beef, being cooked over wood. The client and I painted the iron plate above the kiln in the center of the open kitchen, and the woodwork on the ceiling of the audience seating area, which resembles firewood, with a natural dye called “Bengara”, which has been used since ancient times in Japan. There is a special private room at the back of the first floor, where the chef prepares food right in front of you and entertains guests at the counter made of natural stone.

Additionally, the second floor allows you to enjoy the view from a higher perspective than the first floor, and there are private rooms of various sizes, so we can meet the needs of a variety of customers.

In this project, I believe we were able to design an original architecture and space that has an identity unique to this location and effectively uses natural materials. And I hope that many people from home and abroad will visit this restaurant.