Office: KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS | ArchDaily

Clerestory Garden at Naka-Ikebukuro Park / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Miwa Negoro — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 02:00:00 +0000

A mixed-use building integrating commercial facilities and residences, planned adjacent to Naka-Ikebukuro Park and located a two-minute walk from Ikebukuro Station East Exit. This project aimed to harmonise with the mixed-use cultural and commercial facility 'Hareza Ikebukuro,' which opened in 2019, and the renovated Naka-Ikebukuro Park, seeking to create new appeal for the area. Naka-Ikebukuro Park underwent a transformation during its renewal, shifting from a sandy surface to a stone-paved plaza. Re-established as a space evoking the character of a European square, it now functions as a venue supporting cultural events and vibrant activity. Creating a sense of unity with this plaza became a key theme in the building's façade design.

Juzen Chemical Corporation Head Office / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Miwa Negoro — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Juzen Chemical Corporation, founded in 1950 in Toyama City, is a contract manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Situated between the Jintsu River and the Fugan Canal within an industrial park, the company decided to consolidate its dispersed offices, meeting rooms, and cafeteria into a new headquarters. The new building not only addresses operational efficiency but also reflects Toyama's natural environment and cultural heritage, while offering a workplace that enhances employee well-being and connects with the surrounding community.

Hayama Huts / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Hana Abdel — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 18:00:00 +0000

A villa fronting a private drive is a three-minute walk from Isshiki Beach. The Hayama area was a fishing village up until the Edo Period, but resort construction began there in the Meiji Era for the Emperor, Imperial lineage, and renowned people. Houses line the narrow lanes remaining from fishing village times. Since the property steps downhill from the north to south, southside properties are in plain view from the north.

Kannai Blade Residence / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Hana Abdel — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 18:00:00 +0000

The Kannai Blade Residence - so called because its facades are intersected with thin, bladelike concrete fins - has been designed by the Japanese architectural studio KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS. It sits on a corner site within a 5-minute walk of the well-connected Yokohama Kannai Train Station, not far from central Tokyo.

Fudomae Apartment With Six Voids / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS + Akira Koyama

Hana Abdel — Sun, 11 Oct 2020 19:00:00 +0000

A five-storey apartment complex of 14 units was developed for a parcel along a commercial avenue near the entrance to Meguro Fudoson, a Buddhist temple. To develop a parcel relatively deep with tight frontage in central Tokyo, the main theme for drawing the plan focused on supply of daylight and airflow throughout, while retaining density and thus enhancing rents. In this regard, a void to meet the local ordinance requirement of an evacuation route and additional voids were established.

Kanda Terrace / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Cristobal Rojas — Fri, 09 Mar 2018 23:00:00 +0000

Located in a central Tokyo neighborhood with many low and mid-rise office buildings, this rental building for restaurants stands on a long, narrow lot, surrounded on three sides by streets.

Komachi Building / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Karen Valenzuela — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Facing a street near the JR Ebisu Station circle, the property is a restaurant building principally envisioned for tenants purveying Japanese cuisine. A compact lot of 76 m2 called for securing the most possible tenant floor space. The sky occupancy factor, which would limit the permitted obstruction of visible sky from land around the lot, was utilized in a study to determine how to gain the most cubic volume for a building. Consequently, the building configuration was set at six levels: tenant space of 48 m2 per level up to the fourth floor with a setback of 50 cm, and an additional setback for the fifth and sixth floors.

ReNOA Motosumiyoshi / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Victoria King — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:00:00 +0000

In Japan, the lifetime of buildings is very short; they often get scrapped and rebuilt after 30 to 40 years. Recently, however, there are movements to enlarge the market for not only newly built, but also quality pre-owned condominiums, and to extend the lifetime of such residential buildings. Previously owned condominium residences have the following advantages: 1) Prices are less expensive, 2) Prices depreciate less than new construction, and 3) Conditions of the management, maintenance and residents are already known. As for asset value, prices tend not to drop for properties located in proximity to a city center with conveniences and in a good neighborhood environment. In addition, unlike units ready for sale, renovation allows a layout and interior finish to match personal tastes.

House Contrast / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Christopher Henry — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 01:00:00 +0000

A home for a couple and child stands on a lot 3.7 meters wide and 17 meters deep. Planning of the home focused on how to develop a pleasant layout with sufficient perspective for this slim lot. The lots to the left and right were also for sale and of similar breadth and depth. The plan assumed that spacing between the houses would be tight. Morover, the site is on a grade that rises by over 2 meters from the street facing. The ground floor where the entrance is located gradually submerges underground toward the back, where no inlets are possible. Square footprints or small lots with sufficient breadth permit distances and pathways within the plan that can create spaciousness. But for this lot, the depth of 17 meters could actually create remoteness between rooms, while the significant difference between breadth and depth might create a pinched feeling.

Yotsuya Tenera / KEY OPERATION INC. / ARCHITECTS

Christopher Henry — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 01:00:00 +0000

The project site is in a five-minute walk from Yotsuya Station located in a quiet residential area right behind the Shinjuku Street. This area holds many temples, shrines and also fairly dense housing. Like a spreading network of space, those houses and complexes fill the blank spaces between the streets and alleys. This housing complex was planned to be built on the site of a crank space with 10m of the frontage and 17m in depth. Due to the regulation for Shinjuku Ward studio apartments, 12 units of the housing complex was planned out including 9 units of less than 30m² of the floor area and 3 units of more than 30 m².