Location: Yamanouchi, Japan

Design Team: Takato Tamagami Design

Area: 197.26 m²

Year: 2024

Photography: Masaya Yoshimura

Design Features: SPICY RENTAL stands at Ryuoo Mountain Resort in Yamanouchi, Nagano. The ski and snowboard rental shop was added as a detached annex to an existing toilet building in front of the information centre. Its 197.26 m² new-build area turns the practical sequence of collecting equipment into a spatial prelude to the mountain.

The project had to fit an exceptionally short snow-free construction window. An initial L-shaped plan and faceted roof responding to the irregular sloping site were reorganised after discussions with the local contractor. The revised timber frame could be produced quickly by regional precut suppliers, while a simpler foundation and roof, parallel permit and detailed-design work, and the absence of plumbing enabled completion in roughly three months.

The exterior first reads as a simple mono-pitch building, but the roof is actually composed of overlapping lean-to planes. Although only one storey, its ridge rises more than six metres above average ground level, giving the silver metal volume a civic mountain scale that responds to neighbouring resort buildings and the ridgeline beyond. Folded elevations and tall openings distinguish the entrance, display zones and the direction of the slopes.

The sloping site is not flattened into a single floor. Changes in foundation level become undulating surfaces, benches, fitting platforms and ramps, guiding visitors from reception through fitting and rental toward the ski-field exit. These shifts combine wayfinding, waiting and display, allowing the high-volume equipment process to unfold without relying on excessive signs.

Walls, ceilings and fixed furniture are lined in unfinished particleboard laid with staggered joints. The economical material removed a painting stage, while its fragmented chips create a dense texture that can appear almost mineral without losing the warmth of timber. Dark columns, grey carpet and continuous wood-toned planes suppress the usual retail character and make the interior feel like a room carved from the mountain.

Soft daylight enters through a tall roof volume and narrow openings. During the day it moves slowly across the wood surfaces, producing a quiet, almost solemn atmosphere; at dusk, restrained point lighting turns the shop into a warm cave that receives skiers, wet equipment and tired bodies after the snow. Construction time, snow, terrain and budget are integrated as the source of a memorable architectural experience.

Design Team: Takato Tamagami Design was founded by Takato Tamagami in 2000. The practice works across architecture, interiors, furniture and transport environments, treating the emotions produced through encounters with people, objects, places and events as material for spaces that can prompt action and remain in memory.

SPICY RENTAL was designed by Takato Tamagami and Nanami Yamakawa, with structural engineering by Munehiro Minagawa / Ji-mune Structure and Space Laboratory and construction by Yumoto Construction. The team aligned the concept with local timber precut capacity, integrating a snow-country roof, sloping foundations and the operating sequence into a building system that could be delivered within the short off-season.