Text description provided by the architects. Renewal of the employee dining hall at Lumine Kitasenju, a shopping center in Tokyo. The dining hall has been used as a meal and rest area for store staff working for Lumine, facility management and sales staff, and cleaning staff. For a long time, the dining hall was popular for its panoramic view of the Arakawa River and its reasonably priced, nutritionally balanced meals, but the interior lacked a sense of unity due to aging and ad hoc renovations, making it an undesirable environment. The client also aimed to increase the motivation of the workers and create opportunities for collaboration among the restaurants.
The first step was to gather employees for a design workshop. The workshop prepared various ideas as cards, which were discussed and decided on their combination and placement. The room next to the dining hall was also included in the scope of the project to create a continuous connection between the three spaces.
The three spaces were clearly differentiated by naming the bright and spacious central area with a panoramic view of the Arakawa River "Lively," the chatty area with vending machines and family seats "Chatty," and the calm area with relatively little natural light and a low ceiling height "Cozy. These three distinct areas are clearly differentiated from each other. These three areas loosely set the tone of the space, while the unique furnishings encourage specific activities. We proposed this area as a place that welcomes a variety of ways to spend time, rather than simply a dining hall where people eat lunch.
