Work At Nagasaki Office

Work At Nagasaki Office

Work at Nagasaki Office is a contemporary co-working facility situated on the tenth and eleventh floors of a building in Nagasaki's historic urban center, designed to integrate the region's natural landscape and cultural heritage into a functional workspace spanning approximately 4,500 square meters. This interior space exemplifies a design philosophy that prioritizes the harmonious blending of indigenous materials, historical architectural influences, and modern workplace requirements, creating an environment that serves as both a functional office and a cultural statement about place-based design. The project, completed in October 2024 after commencing in December 2022, represents an approach to interior design that eschews contemporary trends favoring synthetic materials in preference for authentic, locally-sourced elements that carry historical and geographical significance. The design team conducted extensive fieldwork throughout Nagasaki to identify materials and stylistic elements characteristic of the region's architectural heritage, which has been shaped by centuries of Western and Chinese cultural exchange. This research-driven methodology resulted in the incorporation of Isahaya stone, a material traditionally used in Nagasaki's urban infrastructure, which was utilized in its raw, unprocessed state for furniture elements, preserving the material's inherent texture and historical resonance. The spatial composition features a grand staircase connecting the two floors, which functions not only as a circulation element but also as a flexible gathering space for seminars and events, demonstrating the design's emphasis on adaptability and multi-functionality. The tenth floor encompasses reception areas, event spaces, and open office configurations, with strategic material interventions creating spatial rhythm while maintaining visual connections to the surrounding mountain ranges and historic cityscape. The eleventh floor provides enclosed offices and conference facilities that capitalize on panoramic views of the natural environment. A particularly notable design element is a 5.5-meter steel plate counter fabricated using shipbuilding technology, which serves as both a functional element and a sculptural object that references Nagasaki's maritime industrial heritage. The design vocabulary extends to custom furniture pieces, including a low table in the VIP area constructed from a single piece of raw stone weighing 350 kilograms, selected specifically for its ability to function as a table surface without additional processing. Wood elements throughout the space utilize laminated wood and plywood manufactured from Sendan, a tree species indigenous to the Nagasaki region, requiring extensive coordination with local producers to achieve the desired specifications. The project's material palette deliberately avoids melamine and printed sheet materials commonly employed in contemporary interior design, instead prioritizing authentic materials whose tactile qualities and aging characteristics contribute to what the designers term a post-architectural, post-luxury aesthetic. This approach reflects a broader design philosophy that values material authenticity and the nuanced spatial qualities that emerge from the interaction of natural materials with light and time. The louver systems incorporated into the design trace the silhouette of Nagasaki's mountain ranges, while floor patterns reference stone paving commonly found in the city's streets, creating multiple layers of contextual reference that connect the interior environment to its geographical and cultural setting. The facility accommodates teams ranging from individual users to groups of thirty people, offering various spatial configurations from open, collaborative areas to more refined, enclosed environments, all designed to support creative work while providing sensory engagement with the changing natural landscape visible through the building's extensive glazing. The design received the Silver A' Design Award in the Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design category in 2025, one of the world's most prestigious design competitions, which recognized the project's innovative use of space, excellence in material selection, and successful integration of cultural relevance with functional design requirements. This recognition acknowledges Work at Nagasaki Office as a significant contribution to contemporary interior design discourse, particularly in its demonstration of how regional materials and cultural heritage can be meaningfully integrated into modern workplace environments without resorting to superficial historicism or decorative pastiche. The project was developed by Mitsuhiro Shoji of Uchida Shanghai, working with designers Yasuhisa Makino and Makoto Hayashi, with photography by Kenta Hasegawa, for Regional Creation NAGASAKI Co., Ltd., an organization established in 2019 to enhance the appeal of Nagasaki through various development initiatives. The design team's methodology involved creating material boards that organized collected samples by type and color, facilitating a systematic exploration of how traditional materials could be combined with contemporary spatial concepts to achieve what they identified as a generosity of space often absent in current interior design practice. The project's emphasis on material authenticity extended to the construction process, where the team invested considerable effort in coordinating details and managing costs associated with using genuine materials rather than more economical synthetic alternatives, reflecting a commitment to design integrity that prioritizes long-term spatial quality over short-term economic efficiency. Work at Nagasaki Office functions as a creative support environment intended to facilitate interaction, development, and economic innovation, targeting companies, students, and startups from both local and international contexts, with space available on a time-basis rental model that provides flexibility for various user groups. The design's integration of Nagasaki's distinctive geographical features, historical architectural influences, and indigenous materials creates a workspace that operates simultaneously as a functional environment and as an interpretive space that communicates the cultural and natural character of its location, demonstrating how contemporary interior design can engage meaningfully with place while meeting the practical requirements of modern work practices.

co-working space design, regional material integration, cultural heritage interior, Nagasaki architecture, authentic material design, contemporary workplace environment

— Adam Dawson