naruse inokuma aligns mountaintop structure in japan with its sloping topography

naruse inokuma architects has completed a new building annexed to a cable car station at the top of japan’s mount takao, a major tourist destination near tokyo. ‘before our renovation, there were rows of shop entrances lining the road from the station to the mountain trail,’ explain the architects. ‘each of these shops were small and detached from one another, and the souvenir shops were not benefiting from the customers flowing in to the café and restaurant.’

all images by masao nishikawa

as the street in front of the building is 40 meters long, on an incline that rises 1.8 meters, naruse inokuma architects decided to maximize the site’s topography — aligning the interior with the street. as a result, the interior of ‘mount takao sumika’ contains three levels that gradually rise up to house souvenir shops, a restaurant, and a café space. the façade facing the street is lined with sliding doors that can be fully opened to connect the building with the outdoors.

diagram

floor plans

project info:

title: mount takao sumika
architect firm: naruse inokuma architects
open year: 2018
total floor area: 357.45 sqm
photography: masao nishikawa

client: takaotozan railway
consulting: rebita
architecture: naruse inokuma architects
structure: beach side studio
facility: kankyo engineering
construction: keio construction
sign, lantern design: boat, granpa
furniture manufacture: alfa studio
furniture: interoffice
lantern manufacture: sawai orimono