Portal for Japanese minimalist architecture

Sugamo Shinkin Bank is a credit union that strives to provide first-rate hospitality to its customers in accordance with its motto: “we take pleasure in serving happy customers.” We handled the architectural and interior design for the bank’s newly relocated branch in Tokiwadai.

By basing our design around leaf motifs, we sought to create a refreshing space that would welcome customers with a natural, rejuvenating feeling. The façade of the building features silhouettes of trees and an assortment of both large and small windows in 14 different colors arranged in a distinctive, rhythmical pattern that transforms the façade itself into signage.

ATMs and teller windows are located on the first floor, along with 3 courtyards and an open space laid out with chairs in 14 different colors. The second story houses the loan section, reception rooms, offices, and 4 courtyards, while the third floor is reserved for facilities for staff use, including changing rooms and a cafeteria. Thanks to the 7 light-filled courtyards planted with trees and flowering plants, each of these spaces is loosely connected to all the others. A constellation of leaves in 24 different colors growing on the white branches of the walls and glass windows overlaps with the natural foliage of the real trees in the courtyards, creating the sensation of being in a magical forest.

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