HOTEL TSUBAKI-KAN DINING EXPANTION

This project extended the buffet-style dining room on the ground floor of Hotel Tsubakikan in Dogo Onsen. The dining room had long felt short of seats, and the pandemic had also made it difficult to run a private room for small groups. The client therefore decided to take down that private room, along with the storage and staff rooms behind it along the exterior wall, and extend the dining room into the space.

The client asked for a room that would be easy to use and seat as many guests as possible, and, naturally, for a design consistent with the existing space. In other words, the new area had to leave no impression of having been "renovated," and look as if it had always been there. To that end, we carefully studied the finishes and the sense of scale and proportion of the existing space. For finishes such as the wood-grain vinyl floor tiles and the wallcoverings, we ordered a great many samples and compared subtle differences in color, light reflection, and texture, so that the seam between old and new would be as unnoticeable as possible.

It is not the kind of work that makes an architectural statement. For the client, however, it ties directly to the hotel's appeal and its bottom line: modest work, but meaningful all the same.