Kii inc.
architectural design office

キイは、新井里志、中富慶からなる建築デザインユニットです。 建築的な視点を軸に、建築・インテリアのデザインと設計、家具やプロダクトのデザイン、ショーウインドウディスプレイなど 自分たちがイメージする場所をつくるために必要なことのすべてをデザインします。

新井里志 Satoshi Arai
architect / designer
1984年群馬県生まれ。2014年Kii inc.設立

中富慶 Kei Nakatomi
architect / designer
1980年福岡県生まれ。2014年Kii inc.設立
2020-2022年 東北大学大学院工学研究科都市・建築学専攻 特任講師

Awards
German Design Awards 2020 Winner
ICONIC AWARD2019 Innovative Architecture Winner
iF design award 2018
IDA International Design Award 2018 GOLD PRIZE
IDA International Design Award 2018 GOLD PRIZE
IDA International Design Award 2018 Honorable Mention
ARCHITECTURE MASTERPRIZE 2018 WINNER
ARCHITECTURE MASTERPRIZE 2018 HONORABLE MENTION
ASIA PACIFIC INTERIOR DESIGN AWARDS 2017 BRONZE PRIZE
DSA空間デザイン賞2017 銀賞


Kii inc., is an architectural design office founded by Satoshi Arai and Kei Nakatomi.
Kii is an old Japanese word meaning pleasure, relaxation and enjoyment.
The word is cited in The Precious Key to the Secret Treasury, an ancient work by the monk Kukai.
The choice of this name reflects our desire to produce spaces with pleasure, relaxation and fun as per the word's definition. Rather than cookie-cutter ideas of what a building or residence should look like,
our aim is to vigorously pursue our own idea of quality design.
This approach creates greater fun both for the builder and the user or resident.
While the high level of technology required to produce standardized products is laudable,
we would feel sad if such products were the only option.
We strive for greater fun and more freedom in architectural design.
Pleasure, relaxation and enjoyment reside at the core of our design philosophy.

Satoshi Arai  architect / designer
1984 Born in Gunma.
2014 Established Kii inc.

Kei Nakatomi  architect / designer
1980 Born in Fukuoka.
2014 Established Kii inc.
2020 Associate Professor at Tohoku University.

TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION PRODUCTION2

location:Toranomon,Tokyo,Japan
usage:Office
floor area :700㎡
completion :2016.10  
photo:Takumi Ota

虎ノ門の交差点に建つ1977年竣工のテナントビル2フロアを、CM映像制作会社のオフィスへと改修した計画。
日本の古いテナントビルは階高をおさえられた設計が多く、天井が低い、かつOAフロアというのが一般的。
本プロジェクトでは、既存の設えを全て取り除き、躯体を最大限まで生かしつつ、配線や細部まで丁寧に計画し無駄を省くことで、日本の古いビル特有の狭苦しい空間を開放的にした。
溶融亜鉛メッキやフェルト、コルク、など素材そのものの質感や色を生かした可動の家具で場所を構成し、自由度の高い、軽やかな場所を目指した。交差点の角に立つビルで外からの視認性が高いため、室内の雰囲気が外にも伝わるような照明計画としている。
フロアを1つの”街区”のようなものと捉え、それぞれの部屋をつなぐ”道(廊下)”も1つの風景となるよう全体を計画した。

The plan was to renovate 2 floors of an office tennant building completed in 1977, to be the offices of a CM video production company.
Many of Japan's older tennant buildings were designed with height limitations, so ceilings are low, and it was also common to have raised floors to accomodate networking equipment.
For this project, we removed all of the existing installations and, making full use of the framework, we carefully planned the wiring and details to eliminate waste,
making a cramped space typical of old Japanese buildings more open.
We treated a floor as one city block in our plan, with a road (corridor) connecting the conference room and lounge as another landscape.
We used a two-way window, which was an existing feature of the building, to make a bright and spacious conference room.
A sound absorbing aggregate was sprayed onto the frame in consideration of the sound environment while maintaining an open ceiling height.
With the building standing at the corner of an intersection, visibility is high, so we designed the lighting so that the atmoshpere of the office is transmitted to the outside.
In order to design a place with a high degree of freedom and lightness, we designed places with movable furniture making full use of the texture and colors of the galvanized steel plate, felt, cork, glass, wood,and the material itself.