A shop to bring a community together. Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates
28/07/2022.
[Maebashi] Japan
metalocus, DIEGO DOMÍNGUEZ GONZÁLEZ
metalocus, DIEGO DOMÍNGUEZ GONZÁLEZ
Yuko Nagayama and Associates has designed a building, that is more than just a new shop, for the JINS eyewear brand in Maebashi, 100 kilometers from Tokyo.
The residential area in which it is located means that they have not limited themselves to creating the necessary container for the sale of their product exclusively, but also offer a space where children can play or have a coffee, a surprising and innovative meeting place for the community.
The JINS store wants to be a place where the community can meet, hold events, go with their families or simply interact. The building has a garden to the side and a car park to the rear, which is unusual for similar shops in the area located right in front.
The residential area in which it is located means that they have not limited themselves to creating the necessary container for the sale of their product exclusively, but also offer a space where children can play or have a coffee, a surprising and innovative meeting place for the community.
The JINS store wants to be a place where the community can meet, hold events, go with their families or simply interact. The building has a garden to the side and a car park to the rear, which is unusual for similar shops in the area located right in front.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Daici Ano.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Daici Ano.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Daici Ano.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Daici Ano.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Daici Ano.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Daici Ano.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Site plan of Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates.
Ground floor plan of Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates.
Section of Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates.
Detail of Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates.
Yuko Nagayama and Associates has innovated in the interior, placing a large wooden staircase in a triangular shape, a large stage on which the consumer-visitor can sit. In addition, the upper area has been designed so that customers can go upstairs and relax as well, creating a large open terrace or patio.
The large volume is shaped like a rhombus. Seen from above you can see the large terrace and copper roof. Seen from the height of the pedestrian, the volume plays to reduce its scale and protect itself from solar radiation by setting back its glass access.
The studio has also thought about how the building will fit in with its surrounding environment, using materials such as the copper on the façade, which will change color over time and will give the neighborhood an identity in the future.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
The large volume is shaped like a rhombus. Seen from above you can see the large terrace and copper roof. Seen from the height of the pedestrian, the volume plays to reduce its scale and protect itself from solar radiation by setting back its glass access.
The studio has also thought about how the building will fit in with its surrounding environment, using materials such as the copper on the façade, which will change color over time and will give the neighborhood an identity in the future.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Jins Park by Yuko Nagayama and Associates. Photograph by Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Description of project by Yuko Nagayama and Associates
Creating new community value in a suburban eyewear store
This store for the major eyewear brand JINS is located on a busy suburban thoroughfare. As online shopping becomes more common, physical stores must go beyond serving as places to handle or try on goods; they must also offer in-person experiences. Because this store is located close to a residential neighbourhood with many young families, our concept was to create a park-like space where children and parents as well as others in the community can stop by to spend time even if they’re not buying glasses.
We began by reversing the typical layout of roadside stores, with a parking lot located in front, and instead located the parking lot behind the building. The landscaped approach and front garden lead through the building to a second-floor terrace, creating an interlinked, three-dimensional spatial experience. In stores of this type, the second floor is typically not open to customers. By utilizing it as a terrace and also including a bakery-café in the store, we proactively created public spaces that are not part of the sales floor, which encourages community members to come for reasons other than shopping.
Located about fifteen minutes by car outside central Maebashi, a city in Gunma Prefecture about 100 km from Tokyo, the shop sits in a leafy residential neighborhood with a view of iconic Mt. Akagi. The building floats like a trapezoidal box against this backdrop, its sulfurized copper façade echoing the reddish-brown color of the mountain. The exterior walls slope down toward the residential district to maintain privacy for neighbors, while the side facing the tree-lined main street showcases activity inside the store with large plate-glass windows. The façade’s appearance changes as the sun moves across the sky, and at night the edges of its slanted copper strips glitter with reflected light like shooting stars.
Visitors approach the building via a richly landscaped garden. Inside, a fan-shaped staircase and smooth white ceiling lead the eye up toward blue sky. From seats built into the staircase, visitors can look over the store, garden, and street. At the top of the stairs is a terrace with plenty of room for children to run around as well as benches to sit or lay on. When the weather is good, the sliding glass doors facing the garden can be opened, unifying the interior and exterior and drawing breezes up the staircase atrium to the terrace.
JINS Park is designed to serve as a community plaza where bread and coffee as well as glasses are sold and neighbors can hold markets and lectures. Both inside and outside, there are relaxed spaces with no set function where a wide range of experiences and events take place, attracting a lively stream of community members. As the landscaping matures and the copper façade blends more fully into its surroundings, we hope the store will become part of everyday life in the neighborhood.
More information
Architects
Yuko Nagayama and Associates (Yuko Nagayama, Yoko Komori).
Main contractor
Fuyuki Kogyo Corp. (Takushi Yokota).
Client
JINS Inc.
Builders
Structural engineer.- Kanebako Structural Engineers (Yoshiharu Kanebako, Shunsuke Okayama, Kai Kageyama).
MEP engineer.- Pilotis.
Landscape designer.- Solso (Taichi Saito, Yuta Itagaki, Nanako Fujino).
Lighting designer.- Izumi Okayasu.
Lighting planner.- Daiko (Kanako Uga, Rina Hozumi).
Graphic designer.- Takaiyama (Hideyuki Yamano, Saki Kanemoto).
Bakery and cafe, art direction.- Astushi Kikuchi.
Supervision.- Yuko Nagayama and Associates (Yuko Nagayama, Yoko Komori, Rikako Ikegami).
Planting works.- Maebashi Engei (Keitaro Nakamura).
Sign and furniture contractor.- Space Co., Ltd. (Ka Yo).
Sign-board builder.- Sanyo (Goshi Kishi).
MEP engineer.- Pilotis.
Landscape designer.- Solso (Taichi Saito, Yuta Itagaki, Nanako Fujino).
Lighting designer.- Izumi Okayasu.
Lighting planner.- Daiko (Kanako Uga, Rina Hozumi).
Graphic designer.- Takaiyama (Hideyuki Yamano, Saki Kanemoto).
Bakery and cafe, art direction.- Astushi Kikuchi.
Supervision.- Yuko Nagayama and Associates (Yuko Nagayama, Yoko Komori, Rikako Ikegami).
Planting works.- Maebashi Engei (Keitaro Nakamura).
Sign and furniture contractor.- Space Co., Ltd. (Ka Yo).
Sign-board builder.- Sanyo (Goshi Kishi).
Area
Site area.- 1,720.64 sqm.
Building area.- 442.45 sqm.
Total floor area.- 499.33 sqm.
Building area.- 442.45 sqm.
Total floor area.- 499.33 sqm.
Dates
April, 2021.
Location
Maebashi city, Japan.
Photography
Daici Ano, Tomoyuki Kusunose.
Yuko Nagayama. Yuko Nagayama and Associates
Yuko Nagayama, born in Tokyo in 1975, is the founder and director of the Yuko Nagayama and Associates studio. After graduating from Showa Women's University, she passed through Jun Aoki's office, which she left in 2002, the year she founded her studio.
In a multitude of single-family housing projects, the design of commercial premises and office buildings stands out. She also carried out projects for various competitions, including the JCD Design Award that she won in 2005 for the design of the "Louis Vuitton Kyoto Daimaru" store, or the Tokyo Metropolitan Architecture Award for the Goddess Forest Central Garden project.
Yuko Nagayama has also done extensive teaching work at various universities in Japan, such as the Tokyo University of Sciences or the institution where she studied: Showa Women's University.
In a multitude of single-family housing projects, the design of commercial premises and office buildings stands out. She also carried out projects for various competitions, including the JCD Design Award that she won in 2005 for the design of the "Louis Vuitton Kyoto Daimaru" store, or the Tokyo Metropolitan Architecture Award for the Goddess Forest Central Garden project.
Yuko Nagayama has also done extensive teaching work at various universities in Japan, such as the Tokyo University of Sciences or the institution where she studied: Showa Women's University.
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