Kobe Studio

Kobe Studio is an interior renovation project for 24d-studio headquarters located in Kobe, Japan.
The project is an ongoing renovation process where first phase was completed and included a partial renovation of the first floor within two story building that hosts an office space, library and meeting room in one and workshop area.

The building built in the 1980’s had mixed-use program as an office space on the first floor and residential unit on the second floor. Instead of scrap and build approach prevalent in Japan, 24d-studio opted for renovation process that allowed mixing existing and new elements and creating new history without completely erasing past usage of the house. The programmatic layout fit the creative studio requirements for studio daily operations located toward the front of the building and model shop and prototype area toward the back of the building volume.

Even though the interior finishes and color palette of the interior space did not fit studio’s preferences, the existing interior space had multiple built-in storage solutions that allowed maximizing space and storing studio’s large collection of books, material library, and prototypes.

All interior materials, finishes, fixtures and lighting were updated in white and grey color palette to create bright and spacious atmosphere for office space. Natural materials, bright furnishings and plants were incorporated into the design to create a warm and informal office atmosphere. The existing wood built-in bookcase in the main office space was restored and became a focal point of
the interior.

All furniture is easily mobile to accommodate changing daily activities of studio’s creative team.

24d-studio is a multidisciplinary design practice in Kobe, Japan founded in 2008 by Fumio Hirakawa from Kobe and Marina Topunova originally from Moscow, Russia. Our works range in scale from architecture, interiors, installations, lighting and furniture design with a strong implementation of nature-oriented design, material tactility, and implementation of digital and analog methodology in the design process.