Uchida Shōten: Heritage & Modern Design

Historical Context of the Site

Fujisawa City, where Uchida Shōten’s new headquarters is located, has a rich history connected to the historic Tōkaidō Road. The area surrounding the headquarters was formerly known as Fujisawa-juku and was the sixth station along the route during the Edo period. This history is reflected in the city’s layout, which once featured inns, tea houses, and shops, adding a cultural and historical layer to the current site.

Site and Spatial Characteristics

The chosen site for the new headquarters is a narrow, elongated plot, resembling the traditional townhouses of the city. These characteristics posed design challenges, requiring optimal use of space while maintaining harmony with the surrounding urban context.

Interaction with the Surrounding Environment

The redesign of the headquarters took into account the effects of local history, including the traditional patterns of buildings and streets, reflecting respect for heritage and creating a dialogue between modern design and the area’s cultural history.

External view of Uchida Shoten headquarters in Fujisawa featuring a silver corrugated metal facade with multiple tilted awning windows open. — The building’s facade features diagonal top-hung windows that open toward the street, allowing the building’s activity to breathe outward. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Frontal view of the Uchida Shoten silver corrugated metal building from across the street, showing its narrow facade and closed windows. — Inspired by the “Frontage Tax” system of the Edo period, the building maintains a narrow frontage with an extended depth. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Interior view of Uchida Shoten office showing a long open workspace with wooden gabled roof, plywood walls, and employees at white desks. — The main office space utilizes a simple box design with a gabled roof, maintaining a volume similar to the original historic building. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Building System during the Edo Period

During the Edo period, a system known as the “frontage tax” directly influenced the design of buildings along the old Tōkaidō Road. As a result of this system, many houses were constructed with narrow façades and extended depths, allowing for optimal use of the available land along the route.

Spatial Division and Functions

Over time, these elongated plots were divided into front and back sections, as well as upper and lower levels, with each part assigned a specific function. For example:

Front area: Often used as a shop for trading goods and services.
Back area: Dedicated to residential use or storage.

Local Examples of Division

At the current site of Uchida Shōten’s headquarters, the previous building contained offices at the front and fields at the back.

Similarly, the main building of the family directly across the street was organized as follows:

Front: Shop
Back: Storage
Second floor: Residential space

This pattern reflects how buildings adapted to economic and social needs, demonstrating effective utilization of narrow spaces.

Wide-angle interior shot of the long office hall with warm lighting, wooden trusses, and rows of office desks. — The office space is located at the rear of the building, following the traditional functional division of long Japanese townhouses. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Interior ground floor common area with a small kitchen, wooden stools, and plywood lockers under bright fluorescent lights. — The front area serves as a shared common space for interaction and the main entrance for the Artist-in-Residence program. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

A glass-walled meeting room inside the Uchida Shoten office, framed by exposed wooden studs and a sloped ceiling. — Transparent meeting rooms ensure visual connectivity throughout the narrow building while maintaining acoustic privacy. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Objective of the Renovation

Initially, the primary goal was to renovate the company’s historic headquarters, aiming to explore new uses for the space while preserving the building in its historic location for the future. This approach reflects a commitment to cultural and architectural heritage, while seeking innovative ways to breathe new life into older buildings.

Need for Reconstruction

However, the deteriorated condition of the old building belonging to the company across the street made urgent reconstruction necessary. It became important to consider safety factors, such as earthquake resistance, to ensure the building’s sustainability and the well-being of its users.

Establishment of the New Building

In response to this need, the construction of the company’s new building was initiated. This building became more than just a workplace; it serves as a key attraction that helps revitalize the surrounding area, making it more vibrant and engaged with the local community.

Double-height interior entrance with concrete flooring, plywood walls, and a movable wooden worktable on wheels. — The entrance hall serves as a shared space for interaction, connecting the different functional zones of the headquarters. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

A person descending a spiral staircase from a spacious wooden loft area under a slanted plywood ceiling. — “Nidoko” loft provides a private living and sleeping area for visiting artists, accessible via a minimalist spiral staircase. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

A long interior corridor showing wooden lockers along the wall and a staircase leading to the upper floor. — Strategic storage and circulation paths are integrated into the narrow footprint of the building to optimize the limited space. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Office workers at standing desks inside a wooden-structured room with exposed gabled roof beams and natural lighting. — Functional office spaces occupy the rear of the building, utilizing a simple frame structure to maximize efficiency. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Preserving the Traditional Scale

Despite the reconstruction of the headquarters, the number of employees remained unchanged, so a building of roughly the same size as the previous one was sufficient to meet the company’s needs. This approach reflects moderation in space utilization without the need for large-scale structures, while maintaining the traditional character of the area.

Envisioning New Uses

At this stage, a new use was envisioned for the townhouse (machiya) on the site. The front façade was designated for an artists’ residency, while the rear was allocated for offices.

The artists’ residency was designed to accommodate all types of creators, from students to professionals, from Japanese to international artists, serving as a space for artistic production and exhibitions, thereby creating a dynamic and culturally diverse environment.

Cultural and Inspirational Benefits

For Uchida Shōten, whose work focuses on building components design, the project aims to infuse new values into routine industrial work. At the same time, it provides cultural stimulation for local residents and fosters opportunities for interaction between creators and the community, enhancing the area’s cultural and social life.

Close-up of the silver corrugated metal cladding and tilted awning windows of the Uchida Shoten office. — Detail of the tilted top windows that enhance interaction between the interior artistic production and the public space. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Extreme close-up of a single open awning window revealing a spiral staircase and wooden interior of the Uchida Shoten building. — Behind the facade lies the “Nidoko” area, accessible via a spiral staircase, providing essential living facilities for artists. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

Economical and Flexible Design

During the project planning, cost considerations were a key factor in choosing the building’s structural design. Therefore, a series of simple frames was adopted to form the building as a single large “box,” allowing for a spacious and flexible interior while minimizing construction complexities.

Organization of the Artists’ Residency

The artists’ residency at the front serves daily as the main entrance to the building and an open communal space for interaction. Behind curtains, which are often closed, lies an area called the Nidoko (temporary dwelling), equipped with all essential living facilities, including a sink, toilet, bath, and a spacious loft accessible via a spiral staircase.

This space is designed to be available to all creators, including artists, designers, students, and international visitors, creating an inclusive environment for artistic production and temporary residence.

Building Interaction with the Street

At this moment, the tilted upper windows on the north façade open onto the street as if the building is “breathing,” allowing the building’s activity to spill outward. This feature enhances the interaction between interior and exterior, making the building appear as a continuously evolving space that encourages new encounters and connections.

Exterior view of the Uchida Shoten headquarters featuring a silver corrugated metal facade with large glowing glass windows at dusk. — The modern facade uses corrugated metal and large glass openings to create a “breathing” building that interacts with its historic surroundings. (Image © Ju Yeon Lee)

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

The project demonstrates the ability to preserve the historical character of the site while integrating new uses, such as the artists’ residency, adding a cultural dimension that can inspire small and medium-sized projects in areas with architectural heritage. Positively, the building reflects an understanding of flexibility in utilizing narrow spaces and employs an economical design that reduces construction complexities.

However, there are some considerations to keep in mind when planning similar projects. For example, although the single large-box design is simple and flexible, it may lack the dynamism of interior spaces and diversity of use in the long term, especially if the number of users increases or the nature of activities changes. Additionally, using the artists’ residency as a center for artistic production may require extra measures to ensure privacy and safety, particularly given the wide variety of users from both domestic and international backgrounds.

On the other hand, the interaction with the street through the tilted upper windows represents an innovative concept for connecting the building with public space, but its effectiveness may be limited if not paired with clear operational mechanisms or ongoing activity programs, leaving the building as a visually dynamic façade without creating tangible impact on the local community.

Overall, the project can serve as a case study in balancing heritage preservation with new uses, emphasizing the development of more flexible mechanisms for distributing internal functions and ensuring the long-term sustainability of cultural and social engagement. For further reading on similar architecture competitions and competition results, see ArchUp’s resources.

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Reviewer

★ ArchUp: Technical Analysis of the Ushida Shouten Headquarters: A Dialogue Between Heritage and Contemporary Design

Analysis of Reinterpreting the Traditional ‘Machiya’ Typology:
This article provides a technical analysis of the reconstruction and renovation of the Ushida Shouten headquarters in Fujisawa City, serving as a case study in reinterpreting the traditional urban typology of “Machiya” (long townhouse).

1. Design Concept: Modernization of Historical Precedent: The design reinterprets the Edo-period “Frontage Tax” system, which shaped narrow (8-10m), deep (up to 40m) plots. Located at the historic Fujisawa-juku (Sixth Station), the new building preserves this typology while updating its function: the front zone hosts an artist-in-residence program, and the rear houses administrative offices.

2. Structural and Material System: Intentional Simplicity: The structure is defined by intentional simplicity—a “single large box” formed by simple wooden frames with a 7-meter-high gabled roof. Its contemporary character is achieved through a cladding of 0.8 mm silver corrugated iron. The interactive awning windows on the northern facade open at a 45-degree angle, deliberately bringing internal activities into dialogue with the street.

3. Functional and Social Performance: A Community Platform: The project transcends a corporate headquarters to become a community platform. The integrated artist residence, with its “Nedoko” area, attracts creators and infuses cultural vibrancy. By maintaining proportionality with the historic urban fabric, the building embodies “moderation in spatial exploitation” and ensures genuine continuity with Fujisawa’s heritage.

Related Insight:
To explore another project that dialogues with local history through contemporary design, please review the technical analysis of:
The Marmilla Gateway Project Redefines the Relationship Between Architecture and Local History