DAIKYO ANABUKIFUDOSAN Banchō Residence Salon designed by SPACE CO., LTD. (Japan)
In Banchō, where the residential history of central Tokyo is deeply connected to discretion and permanence, SPACE CO., LTD. has designed the Banchō Residence Salon for DAIKYO ANABUKIFUDOSAN as a space that encourages conversation. The salon facilitates meetings regarding high-end residential properties, but its character is defined less by conventional symbols of prestige and more by a carefully controlled sequence of light, enclosure, and release.
This sequence begins at the threshold. The entrance is bright and composed, featuring a calm material palette and a clear view into the interior. Upon entering, however, the atmosphere changes dramatically as visitors move through a jet-black passage that is geometrically inspired by the company’s letter “D.” SPACE transforms this brand reference into architecture: a curved enclosure that narrows the field of vision, softens the sense of scale, and temporarily separates the visitor from the city outside.
Although the passage is brief, its impact shapes the entire experience within the salon. The darkness compresses perception before the interior opens up into a long, luminous corridor. White surfaces, sheer curtains, and pale stone absorb natural light, while the layout reconnects with the surrounding streetscape. This transition amplifies the presence of daylight, as it has been momentarily withheld.
SPACE employs this contrast to create a calmer rhythm of arrival. Visitors experience a gradual progression between different levels of exposure, moving from the public entrance to a more private setting, and then back toward light before entering the meeting rooms. Consequently, privacy is incrementally integrated into the layout. Visitors are neither abruptly removed from the city nor immediately confronted with the consultation rooms. The meeting spaces continue this intentional tone. Warm timber, deep carpeting, and soft lighting foster a more intimate atmosphere, while arched openings carry the geometry of the earlier passage into the private rooms. In the larger consultation room, elongated suspended lights and timber ceiling elements focus attention on the table, creating a sense of occasion without becoming overly formal.
What unifies the project is the way branding, circulation, and atmosphere work together to fulfill a common purpose. The “D” is present, but it is experienced through movement before it is recognized as an identity. Light is not merely decorative; it serves to delineate psychological distances. Material transitions are also subtly managed to reinforce each stage of the journey without turning the salon into a series of stylistic scenes.
For a business focused on homes, long-term ownership, and personal investment, this sense of measured transition holds particular significance. The Banchō Residence Salon approaches consultations as experiences that begin even before the meeting itself. SPACE CO., LTD. embodies this preparation in architectural form, utilizing darkness, daylight, and spatial compression to create an environment where focus gradually shifts from the city outside to the conversation at hand.
PEGGY'S EDITOR'S NOTE (2026 Sky Design Awards Editorial Jury)
Client engagement transforms into a carefully coordinated experience within this salon. The dark corridor enhances focus, making the interior light appear even more vibrant. The SPACE concept elevates the corporate logo into a functional architectural feature, allowing the Banchō vista to effectively showcase the property's true value. The atmosphere remains calm and subtle, perfectly aligning with the importance of significant asset decisions.
EDITOR'S REVIEW
The design creates a narrative of arrival, using circulation as a key architectural element. Compression and darkness slow the visitor's pace, preparing their senses for the bright experience that follows. The D-shaped geometry serves essential spatial functions, providing privacy while guiding movement. The Corridor of Light provides a broad, welcoming view, reconnecting the visitor with the Banchō streetscape just as the consultation starts
DRAWING AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS
The documented sequence suggests that the salon is organized around controlled visual depth rather than a simple corridor with rooms attached. The dark D-shaped passage works as a spatial filter between reception and consultation areas: its curved enclosure blocks long views into the interior, compresses the route and creates a deliberate change in scale before the plan opens again.
Beyond this threshold, the circulation shifts to a brighter edge condition. The long corridor appears to run alongside the glazed façade, using daylight and the Banchō streetscape to give orientation to an otherwise internal programme. Consultation rooms are placed along the opposite side, so the circulation itself becomes a buffer between the public-facing exterior and the more private meeting spaces.
The meeting rooms continue the geometry introduced earlier through rounded openings and curved ceiling elements, giving the sequence spatial continuity without literally repeating the dark passage. The overall organization can therefore be read as compression → release → controlled privacy: the entrance establishes public orientation, the dark passage interrupts it, the luminous corridor restores spatial breadth, and the consultation rooms form the most contained layer of the plan.
ORIGINAL DESIGNER SUBMISSION — VERBATIM
Daikyo Anabuki Fudosan provides integrated services ranging from the sales of high-end residential properties to asset management. As a base for client meetings, a retail space was opened in Bancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.
The space was planned as a sequence along the circulation, allowing spatial conditions to change gradually. Beyond the bright and open entrance, a jet-black passage inspired by the letter “D” introduces a moment of compression. Through shifts in scale and light, the following space appears brighter and more expansive.
Emerging from the dark passage, the view opens toward a “Corridor of Light” facing the surrounding streetscape of Bancho. By layering contrasts of dark and light, closed and open, clear spatial transitions are created, leading naturally to a calm and composed environment for consultation.
Project Outline
Project Name: DAIKYO ANABUKI FUDOSAN Bancho Residence Salon
Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Opening Date: March 2025
Client: DAIKYO ANABUKI FUDOSAN INC.
Design Company: SPACE CO., LTD.
Project Team
Direction / Project Management: Hajime Misumi (SPACE CO., LTD.)
Design: Daiki Mishima, Mana Yamaguchi (SPACE CO., LTD.)
Creation & Construction: Tatsuya Doi, Keiju Taya (SPACE CO., LTD.)
Photography: Kenji Masunaga (masphoto)