On Tokyo

Client: On Running

The ON office in Tokyo stands as a meticulous and considered expression of the brand's global values, interpreted through a distinctly local Japanese lens. The approach demonstrates how architecture can serve as a conduit between cultural heritage, contemporary needs, and brand identity, with each element fulfilling a specific purpose grounded in both tradition and innovation.

The approach reduces materials to their essence, crafting a space where every detail is intentional and significant. The workspace embodies the company's philosophy that architecture should reflect the social, economic, and cultural climate in which it exists. The ON design principles of: Be inspiring and convey a sense of magic | Sit at the intersection of work/live/play | Give our employees a sense of community and belonging | Enable and facilitate collaboration through pockets and clusters of interaction | Offer a range of space qualities at different levels of formality | Strive to be sustainable in a smart way | Be a role model for innovative office design and inspire the community, are brought to life through a uniquely Japanese lens.

The traditional Japanese motif of the circle is used as ‘shakkei’ (borrowed scenery) used in tea rooms and Zen temples to cut out the landscape like a painting and connect outdoor nature with the interior. The use of the circle as a showroom door and a connecting framing view through spaces creates simplicity and depth in the one - floor located in Shibuya, a thriving Tokyo retail precinct. The vertical rhythm and transparency of 'shoji', (iconic traditional architectural elements consisting of translucent paper fixed on lightweight timber frames, are referenced, along with minimalist use of materials inspired by local architects such as Tadao Ando. Ornamentation is stripped away, the floor uses concrete-type raised as is, and walls are divided into three types: white painted drywall, wood panels made from Japanese ash, and exposed stud frames that echo the stripped ceiling grid. An inspirational feature-piece in the lounge fuses traditional bonsai with sustainable contemporary reuse, known as ReBonsai, in which trees that withered and were destined for disposal are dried and upcycled into bonsai with newly replaced branches and foliage.

Over half of the furniture used is repurposed, and the focus for new furniture was to support local design and manufacturing. Ishinomaki Laboratory, for example, is a company born to revive the community of Ishinomaki City which was damaged by an earthquake in 2011. Furniture made with notoriously hard timber from Japanese broad leaf trees was selected for practicality and longevity and through buying local, the carbon footprint is reduced.

The benefits of mobility are core to the ON brand proposition, and movement throughout the space is encouraged through varied workspaces, privacy booths, and informal working areas, along with an outdoor terrace for breakaways. Central to open plan desking spaces are purpose-made water dispensers, with the Strava light installation in the central lounge referencing the route of the Tokyo Marathon, which is visual note of a global brand proposition activated in a local context.