ASD KonneKt

ASD KonneKt is a two-story, steel-framed mixed-use building standing along an arterial road a short distance from the center of Matsuyama. Making use of a former factory site, the project was first conceived as a "share center for architecture and making," where three parties, building-material manufacturers, designers and builders, and the clients who build homes and shops, would share space, information, and tools. In regional cities, manufacturers' showrooms are few, and clients and designers alike have limited chances to see materials in person and compare them before choosing. It was an ambitious vision: by gathering a showroom, a café, a coworking space, a shared workshop, and more under one roof, and sharing space and resources that would be hard for any one of them to hold alone, it aimed to create a place where people involved in local architecture could connect with and inspire one another.

What the client asked for was a place as open and freely usable as a campsite, with an industrial atmosphere reminiscent of a manufacturing site. We expressed the image of "a place where boxes packed with things and information gathered from many places intertwine" through the form of shipping containers combined like building blocks. At first we also considered using real containers. But converting containers into buildings of medium scale or larger in Japan involves many regulatory difficulties, and making them comply with the Building Standards Act drives up cost and construction time, erasing the benefit of using ready-made containers. Instead, we had an ironworks fabricate folded steel exterior panels that reference the proportions and corrugated pattern of container walls, and attached them so as to wrap the steel frame.

Many buildings in Japan already stack containers on a neat grid. But precisely because these were not real containers, we felt we could create a more playful composition, free of the constraints of standard containers, and give the facility its own character in the process.

Led by an indigo box cantilevered boldly toward the road, black, silver, and yellow boxes overlap, each shifted slightly from the next. The color scheme was settled after studying many combinations, giving strong contrast to emphasize the way the boxes fit together like building blocks, while keeping the building from standing out awkwardly in the streetscape. The ground floor opens to the street with large glazed walls and brick-tile walls. Inside, steel stairs painted white, exposed structural members, concrete floors, and industrial light fixtures create an atmosphere that recalls the workshops and warehouses where things are made.

The original vision later changed shape, and the building itself was given a new name and use. It now operates as a mixed-use facility housing a showroom, rental spaces, a café, a beauty salon, and shops selling houseplants and household goods. Although what is inside differs from the share center first imagined, the building, its exterior unchanged, has become a new landmark along the arterial road.