Project Name: Fuku Auberge

Location: Kashima City, Saga Prefecture, Japan

Design Team: Kengo Kuma & Associates

Total Floor Area: 198.95 m²

Completion: March 2025

Photography: Keishin Horikoshi/SS

Feature: Kengo Kuma & Associates has unveiled the remarkable Fuku Auberge in Kashima City, Saga Prefecture, a transformative project that challenges traditional minka renovation typology through innovative restoration approaches. Located in the heart of Hizen-Hamashuku, a designated Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, this restaurant and accommodation complex for sake brewery Fukuchiyo represents a bold reimagining of historic architecture regeneration.

The building's most distinctive feature lies in its ingenious integration of traditional craftsmanship with contemporary design concepts, seamlessly transforming the century-old minka into a contemporary space that embodies the spirit of "Nabeshima" sake. This design strategy directly responds to the site's inherent historical context—through a unified design language that simultaneously respects traditional architectural heritage and meets modern functional requirements, challenging conventional ryokan architectural conventions.

Under the leadership of architect Kengo Kuma, this project exemplifies the firm's commitment to reinterpreting Japanese traditional architectural typology, a typology that carries profound cultural significance and craft traditions. The auberge transcends the limitations of typical accommodation architecture, integrating dining and lodging functions within a unified programmatic framework, creating spaces that serve client needs while promoting cultural experiences.

The interior design creates ethereal visual effects through lighting fixtures crafted using traditional kumiko techniques, these luminaires appear to float randomly throughout each floor, both echoing traditional craftsmanship and embodying contemporary spatial aesthetics—elements that are core to both Nabeshima brand identity and Japanese cultural heritage. This design approach reinforces the building's role as a bridge connecting past and present, tradition and modernity.

The completed 198.95-square-meter auberge marks a pivotal moment in traditional architecture regeneration, while establishing new benchmarks for Japanese historic building preservation and adaptive reuse. The project demonstrates how design can create bold forward-thinking environments while respecting historical context, inspiring the fusion of cultural heritage and innovation.

This architectural achievement positions Fuku Auberge as a catalyst for future cultural tourism development, proving that historic buildings can be both functionally sophisticated and aesthetically captivating.

Design Team - Kengo Kuma & Associates (KKAA) stands as a distinguished international architectural practice founded by Kengo Kuma in 1990, based in Tokyo, under the creative direction of the founder, the firm has developed a reputation for pioneering multidisciplinary practice that transcends conventional architectural boundaries. The practice operates on the foundation of "relationships between nature, technology, and human beings," applying rigorous spatial logic within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism.

Currently led by Kengo Kuma—born in 1954, University Professor and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo and member of the Japan Art Academy—Kengo Kuma & Associates maintains active projects in over 50 countries worldwide. Under the leadership of the founding partner, the practice has cultivated a distinctive design methodology that seamlessly integrates conceptual rigor with spatial innovation. Their portfolio encompasses numerous landmark projects, including various cultural institutions, hospitality projects, and residential developments among internationally acclaimed architectural works. The firm's experimental approach to architectural design has been exemplified through numerous award-winning projects that have received prestigious international architectural awards.

The firm's design philosophy emphasizes that materiality, environmental integration, and cultural sensitivity are equally important, not rushing to standardized architectural solutions but believing that architecture should be a result of thorough understanding of spatial conditions, cultural contexts, and programmatic requirements. Through in-depth dialogue with clients, they formulate the core elements of the project then offer their expertise to transform creative concepts into architectural reality. Kengo Kuma & Associates believes that exceptional design comes from collaboration with specialized consultants and craftsmen, they love to challenge themselves and push the design boundary further, with innovation being the key to maintaining their practice vitality.

Through this thoughtful synthesis of contemporary architectural language, understanding of traditional spatial logic, and avant-garde design approaches, Kengo Kuma & Associates has established itself as a significant contributor to international contemporary architectural discourse, creating architectural works that are both rooted in local culture and embrace global design vision. Their work has been recognized with numerous international awards, demonstrating their ability to transform bold conceptual ideas into tangible architectural achievements.