We designed a “kakuuchi” (customers buy drinks at a liquor store and drink at a standing bar inside the store) style "izakaya" (Japanese-style pub) a 5-minute walking distance from Gotanda Station, where a family of thirteen–– consisting of a great-grandmother, two grandfathers, their sons and their respective families––live. This building originally started out as a warehouse and then eventually turned into the "kakuuchi" style store. Our idea was to brighten up the place so that customers can gather and enjoy the fascinating experience at this "warehouse-turned-izakaya."

The existing steel racks, storefront windows, the existing floor, walls and ceiling, and the store awning were preserved as much as possible, while implementing subtle design interventions here and there so that people notice that "it looks almost the same, but something is different." As a result, the "storage-turned-izakaya" revived itself and started to circulate the air around it. As a result, the backstreet lined with parking lots and storages, which had been a sort of "backyard" behind this neighborhood for a long time, is beginning to look like a street where something interesting is happening. Customers can use beer bottle crates to sit on or stack a few of them to create a makeshift table at a convenient height according to their drinking styles. This system provides flexibility to meet various needs in this store.