The hotel is located in Hakuba, Nagano, Japan.

Many hotels have been built in Hakuba in recent years, but most of them target winter guests only, and only a few are designed to allow guests to enjoy Hakuba's natural beauty throughout the year.

In response to this situation, we designed this hotel in search of an appearance that is unique to Hakuba and that should be in harmony with the natural surroundings all year round. We thought about how to create an experience and luxury that would not be as glamorous as overseas, but would be relaxing, with a sense of Japanese wabi-sabi, and a feeling of nature as if you were back in your hometown.

Three triangular-roofed buildings are arranged in the motif of three representative Hakuba mountains: Mt Hakubadake, Mt Shakushidake and Mt Yarigatake. Respecting the village of Hakuba, the triangular roof is adopted as an answer to snow. In Japan, there are villages with gassho-zukuri roofs in snowy areas such as Shirakawa-go, and Hakuba is also an area with many similar old houses. Hakuba is also an area with many similar old private houses. The form and layout of this hotel represent the characteristics of the region.

In this building, the east wing is the restaurant, and the center and the west wing are accommodation. The restaurant blocks the view from the street, making it difficult for the hotel portion to be seen from the street.

The hotel portion is limited to one group per night and consists of three suites (bedrooms), living room, dining room, kitchen, and outdoor bath. Privacy is ensured by having the living room as the center and connecting to each bedroom via a corridor. In addition, each room faces the garden to the south, allowing guests to see the transition of nature and sunlight shining into the rooms. Guests can fully enjoy nature to your heart's content.

In Japan, hotels are often built with reinforced concrete or steel construction, and this is the case with many hotels here in Hakuba. Therefore, we insisted on building this hotel with wooden construction. In Hakuba, surrounded by mountains, we believe that the most important thing is to use wood grown in the area and to have the experience of spending time with local materials. In order to enjoy nature more, the space is not too inorganic, and environmental issues are also taken into consideration.

Creating a wooden hotel in Hakuba, a method that other brands have not chosen, has allowed the hotel brand to gain an advantage. An additional benefit, the building uses many locally sourced materials. Considerations were made to minimize transportation by using locally sourced materials such as laminated larch for the roof structure and Teppei stone for the exterior walls. The design was also designed with an eye to revitalizing local industry by having it built by local people.

We believe that the straightforward use of materials and forms that make sense for the site, in other words, indicates that the building is sustainable.