Shodoshima the Gate Lounge embraces 1,000-year-old olive trees

Shodoshima the Gate Lounge, designed by VUILD on Shodoshima Island in Japan. To reduce costs and environmental impact, VUILD proposed creating lumber processing facilities. The client agreed to source materials locally and build the facility themselves, resulting in a project completed with their cooperation.

The program functions as a store and facility for the customer, who is engaged in the production, sales, cultivation, and research and development of olives on Shodoshima island. Apart from engaging with the goods and services, guests can witness the real cultivation and pressing procedure and relish the environment and scenery that grew the olives with their five senses.

The building is oriented to wrap around a symbolic 1,000-year-old olive trees, with the site facing the sea. The architectural design gave considerable respect to the direction of light and wind. Natural ventilation and multidirectional flow to the site are encouraged by the building’s three-way spreading form, which was designed with the help of a sustainability engineer.

It is also possible to anticipate a natural lighting impact of roughly 500 lx even in the middle of the structure on a sunny day due to the building’s three-section design, which has the effect of capturing wind from the sea and drawing it into the space through the slits. Even with the entrance doors closed, there is always a slight airflow of about 0.3 m/s because the caught wind is drawn into the rooms through the slits. The 600 cypress logs used for the structural frame were harvested in the area, and the foundation was made out of massive granite stones rather than concrete.

Sustainable Design and Environmental Considerations

Project Info

Project Name: Shodoshima the Gate Lounge
Completion Year: 2023
Gross Built Area (m²/ ft²): 81.9 m²
Project Location: Kagawa, Japan
Office’s Team Design Credits:
Koki Akiyoshi (Designer)
Akito Nakai (Designer)
Kenta Isebo (Designer)
Collaborating Companies Credits:
Graph Studio (Structural Engineer)
Studio Nora (Environmental Engineer)
TILe (Lighting Designer)
Maruki Inoue Koumuten (Construction Management)
Photography: Takumi Ota