Silver Architectural Lighting · 2025
Embraced in Recycled Steel Office
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Architectural Lighting
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Kyoei Steel Ltd
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 36,394
- Verification code B17F24004E · Verify this award
About Embraced in Recycled Steel Office
Embraced in Recycled Steel is an architectural lighting design for an office building in Yamaguchi, Japan. Billet-shaped seamless LED fixtures are embedded within steel louvers, creating a rhythm of light across the recycled steel surfaces. Lighting patterns inspired by barcodes and QR codes are placed through the interior and shift in appearance as people move. A control system adjusts brightness in response to daylight conditions. The design highlights the texture of recycled steel while providing comfortable illumination for daily work.
Nobuaki Miyashita's Embraced in Recycled Steel Office emerges from the contemporary discourse surrounding sustainable architecture and the creative reuse of industrial materials, positioning itself within a tradition that celebrates both environmental responsibility and aesthetic innovation. The work demonstrates remarkable compositional command through its exploitation of the vertical atrium format, transforming what might otherwise function as mere circulatory infrastructure into a space of genuine architectural contemplation and visual poetry. Technical achievement manifests in the precise orchestration of the steel member placement, where each element contributes to an overall visual rhythm while maintaining the structural integrity necessary for the building's function, representing that rare convergence of engineering necessity and artistic vision. The lighting design achieves particular distinction through its central luminous spine, which provides practical illumination while simultaneously creating a metaphorical axis mundi that transforms the quotidian office environment into something approaching the sublime. Thematically, the work engages with questions of material transformation and second life, suggesting how industrial detritus might be elevated through thoughtful design into elements of genuine beauty and spatial significance. The monochromatic palette, far from limiting the visual experience, actually enhances the perception of form, depth, and luminosity, allowing subtle variations in surface quality and light absorption to become primary aesthetic events. Historical echoes may be traced to the great industrial cathedrals of the nineteenth century, where iron and glass were first celebrated as materials worthy of architectural expression, while the contemporary sustainability agenda adds layers of meaning concerning responsibility, renewal, and creative stewardship of resources. The composition invites viewers to consider their own relationship to the built environment, asking how spaces designed for productivity might also nurture contemplation, how the infrastructure of commerce might simultaneously serve the human need for beauty and transcendence.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This lighting design transforms Kyoei Steel’s industrial identity into a refined architectural experience, emphasizing the interplay of recycled steel and light. Billet-shaped seamless LED fixtures embedded in steel louvers create a luminous rhythm, enhancing the material’s structural and textural qualities. Barcode and QR code-inspired lighting compositions connect digital branding with the environment, reinforcing the company's commitment to sustainability and innovation.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Site Area: 108,045.44
Square meters Building Area: 1,091.12 Square meters
Total Floor Area: 3,931.89 Square meters
Structure: RC
Number of Floors: 4 above ground
Maximum Height: 19.9 m Eaves Height: 16.5 m
Floor Height: 3.9 m
Ceiling Height: 2.9 m - Tags
- architecture, office, lighting design, recycled steel, sustainable design
- Production Technology
- The lighting system incorporates billet-shaped seamless LED fixtures precisely embedded within steel louvers. These lights are designed to blend with the raw aesthetic of recycled steel while enhancing spatial depth and visual continuity. Advanced lighting control systems allow for dynamic brightness adjustments, ensuring optimal illumination that adapts to natural daylight conditions. The result is a harmonious integration of technology and materiality, elevating both functional and aesthetic qualities.
- Design Challenge
- The challenge was integrating seamless lighting into industrial steel structures without compromising the raw material’s authenticity. Developing billet-shaped LED fixtures that maintained a minimalist form while providing effective illumination required extensive prototyping. Regulatory compliance, thermal management, and ensuring harmony between structural elements and lighting patterns were additional hurdles that necessitated iterative design refinements.
- Project Duration
- The lighting design project commenced in early 2022 in Yamaguchi, Japan, as part of Kyoei Steel’s office renovation. The design and implementation phases extended through early 2024, integrating advanced lighting technologies with recycled steel structures to create a visually compelling and sustainable workspace.
- Operation Flow
- The lighting design not only enhances the aesthetic qualities of recycled steel but also guides users through the space by creating a layered visual experience. The illuminated barcode and QR code motifs subtly interact with movement, shifting perspectives as users navigate the office. The interplay between artificial and natural light fosters a dynamic atmosphere that transforms throughout the day, reinforcing the concept of continuous material renewal.
- Research
- Type of Research: Applied Lighting Design Research
Objective: To explore innovative lighting strategies that enhance the aesthetics and functionality of recycled steel.
Methodology: Light modeling, material interaction analysis, and human perception studies.
Data Collection: Experimental prototyping and user behavior analysis.
Participants: Lighting designers, architects, and material specialists.
Results & Insights: The research demonstrated how integrated lighting enhances both industrial material aesthetics and workplace functionality, influencing sustainable lighting solutions in architectural design. - Inspiration
- Inspired by the recycling process of steel and Kyoei Steel’s corporate identity, the lighting design evokes the transformation of raw materials into high-quality products. The barcode and QR code-inspired light patterns symbolize digital connectivity and sustainable manufacturing. The seamless integration of billet-shaped LED fixtures within steel structures enhances the spatial rhythm, creating an immersive and futuristic work environment.
- Image Credits
- Image #1,#2 : Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita Variations, 2024
Image #3,#4,#5 : Photographer Sato Kenta, Variations, 2024. - Patents
- N/A
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The billet-shaped LED fixtures express the transformation of recycled steel into new architectural value. Each linear luminaire symbolizes the rebirth of steel billets, representing Kyoei Steel’s philosophy of circulation and sustainability. By using energy-efficient LEDs and recycled steel components, we turned industrial materials into a poetic expression of light—bridging production and design in a sustainable narrative.
The barcode and QR code motifs visualize Kyoei Steel’s evolution from analog industry to digital innovation. These patterns metaphorically encode the company’s identity, linking material authenticity with information technology. The rhythmic black-and-white lighting composition embodies data flow and production rhythm, transforming industrial heritage into a language of digital modernity.
Maintaining the raw expression of steel while integrating sophisticated lighting required precision. We avoided decorative finishes, instead embedding linear luminaires into structural elements. Each fixture was designed to reveal the steel’s texture, oxidation tone, and depth, ensuring that technology amplifies, not hides, material honesty. This balance was achieved through meticulous mockups and reflectivity studies.
We designed the lighting to act as a continuum of the daylight entering through vertical slits. During the day, sunlight accentuates the metallic reflections; at night, embedded LEDs extend this rhythm into an artificial glow. The two light sources merge to create an ever-changing spatial atmosphere that mirrors the passage of time and the lifecycle of steel.
The project spans various functional zones—office, gallery, and production spaces—yet all are unified through a consistent linear motif. We applied a modular grid system based on billet proportions, ensuring visual harmony while allowing flexibility. The lighting intensity and color temperature subtly shift according to function, maintaining continuity without monotony.
Recycled steel was treated as a reflective medium rather than a mere structure. By precisely controlling light angles and distances, we revealed its layered surface tones—from cold matte gray to warm highlights. This transformation turns an industrial byproduct into an elegant architectural element, giving new dignity to recycled materials.
Our research focused on how light interacts with micro-textures of recycled steel. We discovered that diffuse reflection enhances both depth and warmth, allowing lower light levels with higher perceived brightness. This insight redefined our approach to sustainable lighting—achieving visual richness with reduced energy use.
The alternating rhythm of steel louvers and vertical lighting leads visitors intuitively through the space. The design simulates motion—light guiding flow, steel providing pause. This sequence creates a sensory navigation experience that reflects the continuous cycle of steel production and enhances both spatial legibility and workplace vitality.
This project demonstrates that sustainability can be expressed emotionally, not just technically. By fusing recycled materials with digital aesthetics, it suggests a new corporate architectural language—where light and material co-author the story of regeneration. I believe this approach will inspire future workplaces to embody circular values in expressive ways.
I believe the jury recognized the project’s ability to merge industrial authenticity with architectural poetry. The lighting transformed recycled steel into a medium of expression, not simply a function. Its spatial rhythm, sustainable message, and visual innovation collectively conveyed how architecture can narrate corporate philosophy through light.