The Fukumitsu Hanayama Onsen renovation project involved the entrance hall, lobby, communal bathrooms, and communal toilets on the first floor, and the dining room, kitchen, and communal toilets on the second floor.

The owner gave the following three main requests for planning the dining room:
1. It should accommodate a total of 90 guests, with 3 tables for 2 people, 13 tables for 4 people, and 4 tables for 8 people, while also incorporating some flexibility through the use of movable partitions.
2. The spaces should not be closed while at the same time retaining some privacy.
3. Guests are able to see the food being prepared in the open kitchen.
The main point in the planning was to create a relaxed and open space while still ensuring privacy. We used 25 x 60 at 85 mm centers timber lengths fixed to create a visual separation to the other side. This lattice design creates an open effect if none of the direct sight lines are obscured by the timber lattices. However, the opposite effect can also be achieved, with any movement on the other side, creating a closed effect due to the direct sight lines being obscured. The ceiling with hanging partition walls emphasizes the physical aspects of a number of divided spaces. The space combines the features of being both “closed but open” and “open but closed.” This latticework also displays excellent carpentry techniques that wasted no materials and left no unnecessary traces of their creation despite the short time available for their construction.

The original forms of the entrance hall and lobby were retained, but the color was changed from a light woody to a dark woody brown. As requested by the owner, the color tone used conjures the image of an old folk house in Takayama. The two cube-shaped lanterns in the lobby were placed there to conceal the escalator that it was not possible to dismantle. A sequence of dark brown lattices conceals the corridor on the second floor, creating a sense of unity in the entrance hall, which previously was not well organized.

Although the amount of renovation work was limited by the need to retain many parts of the existing building, we believe the new design represents a complete shift away from the old image of Hanayama Onsen. We wish for their customers to enjoy more deeply their hot spring and food as their original purpose, by visually providing a sense of unity and stability.