Skip to content
eeGee Stay: Reviving the Local Economy Enterijer kapsula hotela by Hajime Tsuruta

eeGee Stay: Reviving the Local Economy Enterijer kapsula hotela by Hajime Tsuruta is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2020 Бронзана награда A' Design Award in Дизајн ентеријера и изложбених простора Competition Category.


БронзанаЕнтеријер· 2020

eeGee Stay: Reviving the Local Economy Enterijer kapsula hotela

by Hajime Tsuruta

Client: NRC architecture & design office

Бронзана награда A' Design Award Winner in Ентеријер Category

10,045

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #92518

Colors

The Design

About eeGee Stay: Reviving the Local Economy Enterijer kapsula hotela

eeGee Stay je kapsula hotel napravljen unutar napuštene zgrade u tržnom centru u Saitami, Japan. Napuštene stare zgrade i ekonomski pad lokalnih tržnih centara predstavljaju društvene probleme u Japanu, a pristup renovaciji odgovara na oba. Ponovna upotreba postojeće strukture štedi resurse i troškove, što dovodi do nižih cena soba. Kabine za spavanje su izgrađene od panela od orijentisanih iverica (OSB), sa 152 kabine za žene i 154 za muškarce. Drvo i zelenilo daju enterijeru karakter sličan šumi. Nema restorana ni veš servisa, tako da gosti koriste lokalne prodavnice u okolini.

The Recognition

About the Бронзана награда A' Design Award

eeGee Stay: Reviving the Local Economy Enterijer kapsula hotela је добитник Бронзане награде A' Design Award, високо престижног признања које се додељује изванредним дизајнима који се одликују креативношћу, домишљатошћу и оштроумношћу. Добитници Бронзане награде у потпуности су вешти и упечатљиво креативни артефакти који потврђују велико искуство, машту и снаљажљивост својих дизајнера. Очекује се да eeGee Stay: Reviving the Local Economy Enterijer kapsula hotela буде високо цењен, дивљен и вољен предмет, запажено професионалан и иновативан. Овај дизајн награђен Бронзаном наградом A' Design Award уграђује најбоље праксе у уметности, науци, дизајну и технологији и одличан је по пажњи према детаљима. eeGee Stay: Reviving the Local Economy Enterijer kapsula hotela сјајно задовољава потребе, дотиче жеље, очарава осећања и привлачи радозналост.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

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

Unique Properties
In Japan both old buildings standing vacant and the economic decline of local shopping arcades have become major social problems. This capsule hotel was designed to address both issues while embracing sustainable, socially responsible design principles.
Rather than building from the ground up, the hotel was constructed in an existing vacant building in order to better utilize resources. Utilizing an extant building also ensured that the exterior design of the hotel would fit in with the surrounding businesses. Furthermore, renovating extant buildings is a more cost-effective strategy than constructing a new building. Savings from these cost-cutting measures are passed on to the end user in the form of lower prices, making the hotel more attractive to consumers (particularly the money-conscious youth demographic).
Although shopping arcades were the main retail hubs in postwar Japan, recent redevelopment has pulled consumers away from the shopping arcades and into contained shopping malls. This hotel was designed with an eye towards minimalism in order to encourage visitors to patronize local shops, ultimately reviving the local economy and preserving the shopping arcade.
Dimensions & Packaging
construction classification:Building conversion&renovation/Total floor space:1,942 square meters/First floor:Women's cabin 152 wooden cabins,Second floor:Men's cabins 154 wooden cabins
Tags
nature, hotel, cabin, renovation, wooden
Production Technology
OSB boards were assembled to form the wooden box to sleep and made 154 boxes for women, 152 boxes for men.
Design Challenge
A major challenge during the design process was designing and assembling the offset sleeping cabins. Cabins in higher and lower positions alternate along the walls of the hotel, and the interior shape features a step which creates an irregular ceiling in lower cabins.
The cabins were originally manufactured in an offsite laboratory, requiring designers to be particularly precise in their measurements. When the cabins were assembled at the renovation site, a measurement error was discovered. The horizontal measurements of the cabins were slightly too large, and they did not fit into the existing building. The first run of cabins had to be reconstructed due to this error, delaying project completion by a week.
Research
After researching other hotels to determine what features were considered most desirable by consumers, designers scouted shopping arcades on foot to find their location. The design team settled on the Ichiban-gai shopping arcade near Oomiya station.

The team met with the local business bureau and managers of Ichiban-gai shops to discuss their plans. This allowed the designers to determine which businesses within Ichiban-gai would best supplement the hotel's lack of built-in amenities.
Inspiration
After World War II, shopping arcades were the main retail hubs in Japan. However, due to recent redevelopment and modernization in Japanese cities, huge suburban shopping malls have been drawing consumers away from the arcades, causing these old-fashioned shops to suffer. Many shops have already closed, and more are just waiting to shut down. Sometimes people call these shopping arcades "shutter streets" even though there are still many charming stores left behind.

The driving motivation behind this renovation project was to attract new customers to a local shopping arcade, boosting the local economy. By producing a stripped-down capsule hotel without its own restaurant, cafe, or laundromat, this design pushes hotel customers back into the shopping arcade, where they will spend more money at local businesses. This design ultimately fosters a symbiotic relationship between the capsule hotel and its surrounding businesses.

The visual design of this project was influenced by recent trends towards infusing natural features into urban areas. Discarding the boxy design of conventional capsule hotels, this project was conceived as a hidden forest within the shopping arcade. With an emphasis on wood and greenery, customers staying at this capsule hotel sleep nestled in private treehouses rather than in plastic boxes.
Project Duration
This wooden cabin hotel has opened on May.10th, 2019 in Saitama, Japan.
Operation Flow
Although capsule hotels are popular in Japan, most designs rely heavily on plastics. These artificial facades can be unwelcoming to the customer.
The organic appearance of our urban forest offers a more relaxing alternative: an oasis within the city where customers can rest. The sleeping cabins emphasize ergonomic design. Designers collaborated with a manufacturer to create a proprietary hotel mattress to support sleepers' posture. Cabin ladders are also designed to minimize strain on the body.
Patents
Non
Team Members
Hamatomo Kanko:Reiko Ogawa
Image Credits
Non

Sponsored

Explore Beyond Designers.org

Discover products, services and opportunities from our advertising partners.

Good Design Deserves Great Recognition

The A' Design Award is an international, juried accolade for good design. Take part in the A' Design Award to get an opportunity to earn meritocratic recognition, gain fame, prestige and publicity for your work. Nominate your work for the A' Design Award and compete for the coveted A' Design Prize.

Nominate