A Story Of Food and Circulation This is a project to improve an existing restaurant in Kanoya City, Kagoshima Prefecture. It is a renovation which accompanies the changes in business conditions due to the pandemic, and a shop that is reconfigured by concentrating the resources the client holds in the food and drink division.
The aim is to take over local fans of the existing store, while acquiring new non-local fans post-renovation. To visualize the "story of food" here, we created a large atrium for customers to enjoy the live experience of watching production and manufacture within the kitchen that is now more open than it was previously.
Because of the atrium, customers will now be able to see the kitchen from the second floor and spiral staircase, as well as enjoy the wafting scent of freshly baked bread. Arrangement and Change of Entrance Location The cheese factory and hotel owned by the client are adjoining. These were previously built separately, but by changing the location of the entrance, the flow of people has changed, giving birth to a congregated area and a new flow plan.
Additionally, by extending the line of flow from the exterior, we were able to create a smooth line of flow allowing for customers to settle payments for the bread, cheeses, delicatessen and drinks lining the shop window and then climb up the spiral staircase to the eat-in space on the second floor. The curve inserted into the design to visualize the flow manifests an interior where a curved surface gently envelops the whole area.
Changes to Construction Framework Trying to use as much of the existing construction as possible, we added a large atrium, as well as created an aperture in the floor so that the top light on the ceiling could directly shine on the first floor. Through this, we were able to create a space imbued with vertical awareness. We painted the new constructions silver to make the contrast between old and new structurally apparent. Furthermore, we reused the pre-existing beams which remained after the atrium was added, to house the lighting rail and 12-sided speakers.
It is a space which intertwines the two components of flow, the spiral flow of people on a planar level with the vertical flow of light, as its skeletal structure in a defined yet intricate way.