The Grand Blue Express Faleaiga by Tetsuya Matsumoto

The Grand Blue Express Faleaiga by Tetsuya Matsumoto is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award Ario in Mamanu Totonu Competition Category.

ArioTotonu· 2022

The Grand Blue Express Faleaiga

by Tetsuya Matsumoto

Client: Nautilus Ueno

A' Design Award Ario Winner in Totonu Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #136354

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Colors

The Design

About The Grand Blue Express Faleaiga

O le Grand Blue Express o se fale'aiga mea'ai i le aquarium i Ueno, Tokyo. Ole avanoa toe fa'afou fa'atapula'a ile 95sqm na fa'atū i luga ole fogafale 5 ole fale fa'afefiloi fa'aoga. Fa'aosofiaina e nofoaafi taugata, o le mamanu e taumafai e fa'ato'ilaloina le fa'atapula'aina o avanoa laiti e fa'aoga uma ai aquariums ma maua ai le si'osi'omaga matagofie e fa'amoemoe le fale'aiga e fa'atino. O le potu 'ai e foliga mai o se koridor coach e tautuaina fale ta'itasi i itu uma e lua. o fale ta'itasi ua fa'apipi'iina lona pusa tioata e fa'ata'ita'i ai fa'amalama o le nofoaafi, ma fa'atupu ai le lagona o lo'o i totonu o se nofoaafi o lo'o feoa'i i lalo ole vai.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Ario

O le A' Design Award Ario na manumalo ai The Grand Blue Express Faleaiga, o se faamaoniga matuā mamalu e tuuina atu i mamanu sili ona lelei, matagofie ma mataʻutia. O ē manumalo i le Ario o galuega susulu tele ma fatufatuaʻi e faaalia ai le poto, le taleni ma le atamai o tagata mamanu. E faamoemoeina The Grand Blue Express Faleaiga e avea ma galuega matagofie, o se fesuiaiga mo isi, e iloga i le tomai faapolofesa ma mea fou loloto. O lenei mamanu na manumalo i le A' Design Award Ario o se mea e iloga, ua mataʻina e aogā ma tuleia atu tapulaʻa o le faatufugaga, saienisi, mamanu ma tekonolosi. The Grand Blue Express Faleaiga o se mea e fiafia i ai le toatele, e fafagu ai manaʻoga, aumaia ai lagona lelei ma tupu ai le ofo.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: The renovation work for the aquarium dining restaurant took place on the narrow 5th floor of a mixed used building in Ueno, Tokyo. The restaurant is inspired by luxury cruise trains and imitates them to produce a small yet luxurious atmosphere for the dining room. The seats are made into train cabins where the windows are replaced by aquariums. The space turns on to offer an immersive experience with the impression of being inside a train cruising underwater.
Dimensions & Packaging: Gross Built Area: 95sqm
W15325mm x D8300mm x H2390mm
Tags: Japan, dining, aquarium, restaurant, Tokyo, blue, train, immersive, hospitality, commercial
Production Technology: The walls are made using dry wall techniques. The floor is covered in ceramic tiles. While the ceiling is finished in vinyl cloth mainly, except for the central corridor ceiling which is covered in special stainless panels that imitates water waves. The aquariums are surrounded by steel frames with a golden baked painting finish. On the top of the frame another round steel panels that allows access to the aquariums for maintenance purposes.
Design Challenge: The client abstract when starting this project is to produce a luxury aquarium dining experience, however the total floor area to be used, including the kitchen is no larger than 95sqm and the height under the beams is limited to 2.3m. How can such a narrow place offer a luxury experience was the main challenge leading to the concept of luxury cruise trains. the second challenge was to integrate the aquariums in this composition without altering the concept.
Research: The experiment of this project was to find a way to imitate a luxury train experience on a concrete building inside the urban jungle of Tokyo. How can a built interior space offer the same experience than a moving dynamic wagon and how can interior materials be used to simulate an automotive space? The combination of material use, dimensional canons, and geometrical shapes were the core of this design exercise.
Inspiration: The space was inspired by luxury trains rides which offers various services. The trains are composed of several wagons with special functions and special layouts. The restaurant combines two types of wagons, the cabin and the dinner and merge them to create a dining cabin, and since the restaurant theme is aquarium dining, the train windows are replaced by aquariums to create a simulation of a train cruising under the water.
Project Duration: Project start: July 2021.
Construction start: December 2021.
Project/Construction End: February 2022.

Location:
Ueno, Tokyo, Japan.
Operation Flow: Since the restaurant is located on the 5th floor of a building the access is done through the elevator that opens to a small welcoming hall. At the corner a circular shaped sofa. Then the corridor along the space serving the cabins on both sides. on the left, four two-seaters cabins and on the right four other four-seaters cabins. At the end of the corridor the VIP cabin. The kitchen is accessed on both extremities of the corridor on the right side.
Team Members: Tetsuya Matsumoto
Motoaki Takeuchi
Risa Iriyama
Image Credits: Image #1: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #2: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #3: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #4: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.
Image #5: photographer ©Stirling Elmendorf, Nautilus, 2022.