Kyoto Okazaki Corporate Resort

• Designated management

To renovate this facility located in a quiet corner of Kyoto's Okazaki neighborhood, Ueyakato Landscape proposed reconfiguring the space connecting the main house to the teahouse to become a tea garden featuring both functionality and scenic beauty.

The main elements of this facility's garden area are its dry waterfall and dry stream extending from east to west, a stone bridge, a teahouse on the east side, and the main house on the north side. The path leading over the stone bridge toward the teahouse already featured tea garden elements such as traditional stone lanterns and stone basins. Yet the flow line connecting the main house to the teahouse was too long.

A tea garden is a space representing the world of tea. Essentially, it is a space giving meaning to the step by step process of leaving behind the bustling streets while coming closer to the serenity of the teahouse. We therefore harmonized this space into a smooth flow line suitable for holding a tea ceremony (function) featuring scenery pleasing to both the eyes and ears (scenic beauty) .

Our proposal for this resort was to add a stone staircase to shorten the length of the flow line (function) and reconfiguring the basins to match the garden's viewpoints (scenic beauty).

The stone staircase creates a striking impression, drawing a visual connection extending from the main house to the garden by using the same stone materials for the garden path stone.

Reconfiguring the stone basins by adjusting their orientation shortened the length of the principal flow lines between the main house, teahouse and stone bridge and created scenery that can be seen from the viewpoints of the main house and teahouse.

We also reconceptualized the planting to match the scenery.

By arranging the flow line from the main house to the teahouse so that it temporarily passes outdoors, a space was born that conveys the liberating feeling of being face to face with nature.

Location: Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City
Architectural renovation: Planning, design and construction by Obayashi Corporation
Garden renovation: Planning and design by Obayashi Design(Landscaping Divsion) and Ueyakato Landscape
Construction: Ueyakato Landscape
Construction year: 2024
Area: 800m²