Location: Tokyo, Japan

Design Team: Kubo Tsushima Architects / IAO Takeda Architects Associates

Area: 1,592.55 m² 

Year: 2024

Photography: Munetaka Onodera Photography Office

Design Features: Kubo Tsushima Architects designed HAMANOYU EDOYU in Nihonbashi-Hamacho, Tokyo, within the lower levels of the ten-storey mixed-use building iiyu HAMACHO. A cafe and post-bath lounge occupy the ground floor, while the men's and women's bathing rooms and saunas are arranged across levels two and three. In a dense setting overlooked by neighbouring mid-rise buildings, the project turns a precise question into its central theme: how can privacy be protected without losing the sensation of moving air?

The answer is clearest in the semi-open-air baths. Layered roofs and ceilings block downward views while leaving a route for natural ventilation. Air is not allowed to rush directly into the pools; it is moderated through the space between the layers and their offset openings. CFD studies were used to test this movement so that the resulting airflow enters as a soft breeze. The sky is only partially perceived, yet this restraint heightens awareness of light, air and reflections across the water.

The men's bath on level two and the women's bath on level three share a related organisation but develop distinct atmospheres through colour, material and sauna type. Durable tilework continues the practical lineage of the public bath, while expansive mosaics translate familiar images of Mount Fuji and waves into the wet rooms. Circular luminous surfaces, pale pool edges and water reflections extend the visual depth of the compact interiors. Timber saunas introduce warmth and tactility, carrying the body through a sequence of water, steam, wood and breeze.

At street level, the entrance and Yu Cafe use pale timber, soft illumination and muted finishes to slow the transition from the city. A transparent frontage opens the cafe toward the neighbourhood, allowing the facility to function as more than a private bathing sequence. It becomes an everyday place where residents, workers and visitors can pause, with the most public programme placed at the threshold and the more intimate bodily experience unfolding above.

IAO Takeda Architects Associates designed and supervised the mixed-use building, while Kubo Tsushima Architects shaped its lower facade and residential interiors. The elevation retains the vertical rhythm of the reinforced-concrete frame, but the lower columns swell gently to soften both the structural expression and the building's pressure on the street. HAMANOYU EDOYU ultimately recasts the urban bathhouse as a calibrated sensory instrument: architecture blocks unwanted views while allowing air, light and neighbourhood life to remain present.

Design Team: Kubo Tsushima Architects was founded in 2011 by Hideaki Kubo and Yumi Tsushima. Kubo studied at the University of Tokyo and worked for Yasutaka Yoshimura Architects; Tsushima studied at Kyushu University and later joined Hiroshi Nakamura & NAP. Both also attended Sint Lucas Architectuur in Belgium. The studio works across housing, hospitality, bathing facilities, retail, exhibitions and public architecture, and has received an iF Design Award Gold, Prix Versailles and the Architectural Institute of Japan Newcomer Award. HAMANOYU EDOYU was developed by Hideaki Kubo, Yumi Tsushima and Shusaku Imae, with building services by ZO Consulting Engineers, signage by Awatsuji Design, lighting by Atsushi Sugio Lighting Design Office, ventilation analysis by Kozo Takase and construction by Fukuda Renewal.

IAO Takeda Architects Associates was established in Osaka by Hidemichi Takeda in 1976 and now maintains offices in Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyushu, Takamatsu and Wuhan. Its work spans housing, hospitality, retail, offices, healthcare and welfare facilities. The practice treats architecture as social capital for cities and communities, guided by Internationality, Accordance and Originality. IAO Takeda designed iiyu HAMACHO; Kubo Tsushima Architects shaped its lower facade and residential interiors.