Tetsuya Matsumoto · CLIENT: Matsuo Gakuin
For its first created office since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the challenge Matsuo Gakuin was facing is to find a solution for protecting its office users while keeping the aesthetic values the company has always cherished. A thunder shaped table runs along the office dividing the space into staff and guest areas. Glass panels were sandwiched between the board and its duplicate hanging from the ceiling. The glass panels run alternatively through two parallel lines separated by 20cm space. This disposition forms a protective shield while allowing air and documents circulation.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Matsuo Gakuin preparatory school needed a new office space for its reception and meeting room. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting worldwide, this new space must protect its users while guaranteeing an uninterrupted functionality. The space is highlighted by a lightning shapes board running along the office separating it to two entities through a series of alternating glass shields along two parallel lines, protecting from the droplets and allowing air and documents circulation.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Gross Built Area: 133sqm
W15576mm x D10576mm x H2485 - Tags
- Japan, office, corona, post-pandemic, virus, public, protection, shield, interior, work
- Production Technology
- Both the counter board and its duplicate hanging down from the ceiling were made as furniture pieces, each separated and assembled onsite. The boards were finished in white veneer, and their bases in black veneer. Only the top of the counter board was finished in special antiviral melamine veneer. The glass sheets were sandwiched using slits cut on both lower and upper boards and fixed using transparent caulking on the top board.
- Design Challenge
- The biggest challenge of this space was the noticeably short design period and a limited budget. Substantially, the creativity was focused into finding a design solution to a global pandemic threat for the guest receiving office spaces. while temporary solutions have seen the light along the pandemic period, few have the potential of surviving the time challenge. The next step was to study different scenarios and make simulation to guarantee the efficiency of the solution.
- Project Duration
- Project start: August 2020.
Construction start: September 2020.
Project/Construction End: October 2020.
Location:
Osaka City, Japan. - Operation Flow
- The counter divides the space into two major entities. The guest area on the entrance door side and the staff area in the back. The undulation of the counter in a thunder shape creates separate subspaces that starches from the entrance side to the other side of the room. First is the reception counter, which is supplemented by a high counter. This is followed by four consultation tables. The last consultation table is doubled by a video projection film for online meetings.
- Research
- The research in this project was conducted to find out how to ensure safety in a guest receiving office space in the time of global pandemic. The goal was to find a compromise between total safety of the users and the aesthetic values that the company cheers so dearly. What are the materials to be used and what kind of atmosphere that prevents depression or paranoia in these difficult times? But also, a design that can be operational and feels normal long after the pandemic is over.
- Inspiration
- This space was inspired by a multitude of solutions that have emerged in response to the global pandemic, that were put together in a way to respond to the functionality needs of the clients operational mode. The imperfections of each solution or the aesthetic value has evolved into the proposed project. All types of spaces from medical facilities to banking institutions were part of the study, that transcended the real world to step on SciFi spaces.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, NewNormal, 2020.
Image #2: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, NewNormal, 2020.
Image #3: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, NewNormal, 2020.
Image #4: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, NewNormal, 2020.
Image #5: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, NewNormal, 2020.
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