MUKU design studio transforms 100-year-old house into herbalism cafe in japan

MUKU design studio revitalizes historic home as cafe

Mokkado by MUKU design studio sits within a recently renovated 100-year-old old house built in a traditional Toyama style in Imizu City. The building was originally home to the founder of a pharmaceutical company and its factory, now operating as a cafe based on Chinese herbalism.

The Japanese architects began with carefully dismantling the pre-existing materials and reconstructing them to create a space that draws out the historic charm of the old house. Inside the wooden frame structure, the plan is open, unfolding around a doma and a sequence of leveled seating, allowing for fluid circulation.

Mokkado’s Leveled seating and doma create organic use

The space is designed with comfort in mind, MUKU design studio envisioning an environment where people can naturally and instinctively gather and interact. Meanwhile, the architects retained as much of the character and memories of the original building. A doma — a space in a Japanese house typically made with earthen floor — forms the core of the concept.

An artwork fabricated from stones and timber found under the floor of the old house is installed at the center of the doma. Planted with medicinal herbs, it acts as a symbol connecting the nostalgia of the old house and the new beginnings of the cafe. Moreover, ivy planted at the bases of the rope partitions allow visitors to visually enjoy the growth of the cafe. Around the doma, steps and benches generated from varied zoning of the several floor levels encouraging organic spatial use of the cafe. 

project info:

name: Mokkado
architect: MUKU design studio

location: Imizu City, Japan

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