SYMBOLPLUS OFFICE is a modest renovation of a small workplace set within an existing timber building in Tokyo, where architectural restraint, material reuse, and continuity with the host structure shape an office attuned to long-term use rather than formal display.
SYMBOLPLUS OFFICE Technical Information
- Architects: SYMBOLPLUS INC.
- Location: #2F 5-16-9 Shimoigusa, Suginami, Tokyo, Japan
- Gross Area: 76.3 m2 | 821 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years: 2023 – 2024
- Photographs: © Keishin Horikoshi
We treated the office not as a finished object, but as a condition that could continue to change while remaining faithful to the building that hosts it.
– Satoshi Nobekawa
Project Context and Architectural Intent
The renovation addresses a compact office within a timber structure in Tokyo at a time when the conventional role of the workplace is increasingly unstable. Rather than responding to hybrid work patterns through programmatic complexity or technological layering, the project frames relevance as an architectural question of continuity. The design asks how an office might remain useful by aligning itself with the material and spatial logic of its setting.
A close relationship between client and designer enables this introspective stance. The office is treated less as a representational interior and more as an ongoing architectural condition, where everyday work unfolds quietly. Visual restraint becomes a deliberate strategy, allowing space, light, and material to define the atmosphere without recourse to expressive gestures.
Working with the Existing Timber Structure
The original timber framework serves as both constraint and guide throughout the renovation. Its proportions establish spatial rhythm, influencing ceiling heights, partition placement, and surface articulation. Rather than concealing the building’s age, the design preserves these qualities as a generative presence within the office.
New elements are carefully calibrated to align with the existing structure, avoiding formal contrast or material discord. This measured approach allows old and new to coexist with quiet continuity, reinforcing the timber frame’s latent order rather than overwriting it with a new architectural language.
By accepting the limitations of the existing building, the project demonstrates how architectural restraint can amplify inherited qualities. The result is an interior where intervention is legible but never dominant, allowing the structure’s accumulated time to remain perceptible.
Material Strategies: Reuse, Craft, and Memory
Material selection prioritizes the capacity to age and register use. Red-earth plaster sourced from Ishikawa is applied in layered courses, its tone adjusted through manual process to resonate with the warmth of the timber. The surface bears subtle irregularities that reinforce a tactile relationship between material and occupant.
Shoji partitions introduce reused Tosa washi originally destined for disposal. Because the paper lacked sufficient thickness for architectural use, it was layered to achieve durability while preserving translucency. These partitions mediate light and privacy while concealing storage when required, maintaining visual calm without sacrificing function.
Craft-based processes underpin these strategies, embedding material memory within everyday workspace elements. The office becomes a repository of adjusted, reworked materials that foreground continuity and use rather than novelty.
Adaptability and Spatial Use through Restraint
Spatial flexibility is achieved through low-tech, reversible mechanisms rooted in traditional construction methods. Shoji panels slide without metal fittings, relying instead on carpentry techniques that reduce visual and mechanical complexity. Their movement allows the office to shift between openness and separation as needed.
Ceiling panels rotate to reveal lighting only when required, limiting visual clutter and reinforcing the primacy of natural surfaces. Lighting becomes a situational element rather than a constant presence, aligned with patterns of occupation throughout the day.
These decisions frame adaptability as an inherent architectural capacity rather than a technological add-on. The office accommodates change through simplicity, allowing reconfiguration without structural alteration while remaining grounded in the building’s temporal depth.
About SYMBOLPLUS INC.
SYMBOLPLUS INC. is a Tokyo-based design practice working across architecture, interiors, and spatial strategy. Based in Tokyo, Japan, the studio approaches design as a continuous inquiry into what endures culturally, socially, and materially, emphasizing context, material honesty, and long-term relevance over transient trends.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Client: SYMBOLPLUS
- Construction company: SET UP CO.,LTD.
- Lighting Planner: Filaments Inc.
- FF&E Constructor: Mirai sousaku-jo co.,ltd.
- Plasterer: SAKAN TKURA | Tatsuya Tokura
- Japanese Wallpaper Supplier: Wajue Inc.
- Glass Supplier: Chunichi Stained Art Co.,Ltd.
- Stone Supplier: Matsushita Sangyo Co.,Ltd.
- Wood Supplier: Yasuta Veneered Surfaces&Design
- Carpet Supplier: Sangetsu Corporation
