Soaring metal roof tops rural Japanese office by Permanent

A dramatically pitched roof with undulating eaves tops Office in Hashima, a workspace set among rice fields in Japan, recently completed by architecture studio Permanent.

Located in Hashima, the office was designed for a local real estate and civil engineering company as a space that would "harmonise" with its rural surroundings, with a steep, curving roof informed by rice crops swaying in the wind.

The gently undulating, standing seam metal roof was also designed by Permanent to reflect the "changing seasons and colours of the sky" and reference the agricultural buildings of the surrounding rice farm.

"The site was surrounded by farmland, with a pleasant breeze," the studio told Dezeen. "The trigger was this beautiful scenery."

"Rather than creating a dominant structure, we aimed to design an 'apparatus' that responds to the site and enhances its inherent value," Permanent continued.

"The gentle undulations of the roof, reminiscent of wind blowing across the rice fields, softly reflect light along the curved surfaces, creating changing expressions throughout the day."

At the southern edge of the site, the office building has been pulled back to create a small landscaped area with gravel paths, trees and rocks.

This is overlooked by a veranda that sits sheltered beneath the oversized, curved eaves of the steeply sloping roof, which are supported by a row of slender steel columns.

An engawa-like space finished in blackened timber and lined in sliding glass doors leads from this veranda through to the main work area, creating a layering of spaces with different levels of exposure to the outdoors.

"We carefully considered each element – the wind and rain, the light, and the site's history – to express how the building should exist here," the studio said.

"In the main workspace, we created an engawa-like zone along the edge. It works as a circulation path, but it also offers a place to sit and look outside," Permanent continued.

"Although it is an office, we thought carefully about what kinds of areas would make working more comfortable and what kind of meeting room would make visitors want to return."

In the main workspace, rows of desks sit beneath the shallower, northern section of the roof, the angle of which is reflected in a sloping ceiling.

The interiors are framed by the building's exposed timber frame, with walls finished in pale plaster and floors in dark tiles that extend to the external areas, where they surround curved areas of planting.

Elsewhere in Japan, Wataru Architects recently completed an office for construction company Kitaoka Group in Mima City, updating a 40-year-old steel-framed building with a long, central skylight, and Symbolplus used natural materials to create its own office in Tokyo.

The photography is by Kenta Hasegawa. 

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