TORAFU ARCHITECTS

We remodeled the main lobby of the RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, a destination for VIPs from around the world in the city of Osaka, where many international events are held. Taking this as an opportunity to promote Osaka, we were asked to remodel the first-floor main lobby which is the “face” that greets guests.

The RIHGA Royal Hotel, established in 1935 as the “Osaka Geihinkan” (Osaka Guesthouse), was designed by renowned Japanese architect Isoya Yoshida to incorporate the “traditional beauty of Japan” and was highly esteemed from its time of completion, but the main lobby was remodeled 12 years ago under a different concept. And so, for this renewal, we planned a modern restoration through the form of a redesign that combines the latest technology and design ideas. Like a treasure hunt, we dug up designs that we felt should be saved while unraveling the ideas behind the original design and the history of the hotel.

For the lobby floor, we took the huge carpet named “Man'yo no Nishiki” (The Splendor of Ten Thousand Leaves) as it was at time of completion and, to make it look modern, we expressed the subtlety seen in the original outlining of the leaf veins and doubled the size of the pattern. Moreover, considering the enlarged pattern, we used a hand-embroidered carpet from Oriental Carpet, a well-established institution from Yamagata that was involved in the production of the original carpet, after also tuning the color tone by slightly increasing the number of warm-colored leaves. We also discovered the design value in the pillars decorated with gold-lacquer bird patterns that would apply to the present day, and accentuated that design through new lighting.
For the ceiling, we reproduced the checkered pattern metal joints that had remained since the beginning, and for the lighting plan, we produced a space that seemed to invite guests further inside to the main lounge where there is a flowing waterfall by controlling the light and glare through LED glareless lighting.

We aimed to create a space that would brightly greet patrons while possessing an awareness of the spirit of innovation and cultural value belonging to each era and inheriting a history of making elegant and extravagant spaces for the RIHGA Royal Hotel.