eightdays cafe

Otsuka was formerly a prosperous geisha district and to this day provides retro restaurants uniquely Japanese that deeply retains Izakaya culture. Even within Tokyo Otsuka holds a significant presence. It is a good old-fashioned town with a humble, quiet peace that remains untravelled.
However, Otsuka is under new transformative development with a city reform movement titled "ba" (being & association), which aims to create "all kinds of places to sleep, play and live that connect people together and with the city. By doing this, its residents and visitors will have a more enriched everyday lifestyle and be able to live happily." Eight days cafe takes on this vision at its fullest.
Our project is a shop where its name, "eight days cafe," was derived from wanting to create a place that is so comfortable that one week feels like 8 days. Our motive is to create an environment of relaxation and where various communities can come together.
We then formed the concept of "Modern Tateba". During the Edo period in Otsuka, tateba flourished as places with large roofs that covered tea houses, rest stops, shops and where people with various interests went to interact. This culture is translated into modern use by arranging and designing it in a subtle way. First, the choice of activities and zoning provides activities from dawn to midnight: sandwich takeout, dining cafe, chef's table, and bar. For each zone, the quality of materials was chosen to give each space its own feel and characteristic. For example, the takeout counter has a bright, refreshing look while the bar creates a relaxed and luxurious setting for casual conversation. People come here for its many uses and we considered ways for them to enjoy them at their choosing. All these activities also sit underneath a large roof.
The roof is expressed with a large wood column grid below and steel lath mesh building material floating above that creates a sense of openness. The slope of the roof gives it more emphasis and is designed so that as you walk deeper into inside the slope is more pronounced. The angle of the slope is designed so that on the entrance side, it is more spacious with a welcoming entrance, whereas deep inside the canopy is lower so that it reaches a human scale and provides a feeling of comfort.