SymbolPlus Renovates Tokyo Office with Sustainability and Craft

Tokyo-based design studio SymbolPlus renovated its own office in a 23-year-old building designed by architect Akio Hayashi. Founded in 2022 by Satoshi Nobekawa and Sho Watanabe, the studio occupies the second level and mezzanine, totaling 76.3 square meters. The renovation retained much of the existing architecture, adding natural materials like red clay from Ishikawa prefecture hand-applied to walls and floors. A Jenga-like wood-block staircase replaced a removable ladder to the mezzanine. Salvaged Tosa washi paper from a nearby supplier was used for shoji partitions and as diffusers for custom pivoting lighting fixtures with wooden gears. Local carpenters crafted all-wood joinery. Nobekawa emphasized preserving traditional techniques as carriers of knowledge about materials, climate, and time.