ASKWATCH Retailer / Kenta Nagai Studio

Text description provided by the architects. Interior design for a specialty store that collects rare and luxury watches from around the world.The site is an old tenant building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, where various stores are crowded, and consists of 2 floors: 1st floor: sales floor, 2nd floor: purchase counter. In a compact store with a narrow frontage and an entrance deep from the street, a place suitable for encountering rare products was required. A space finished by black steel with no function was set up at the entrance of the store. This is intended to raise expectations for the interior space and inspired by the approach can be found in Japanese traditional shrine.

Instead of covering up the decrepit existing concrete skeleton inside the store, the old concrete was given new value by applying KINTSUGI -Japanese traditional repairing technics with powdered gold which can be usually found on pottery- to some of the defective parts. The floor, the negotiation booth, and the showcase were arranged in the space using materials that conflict with the existing concrete.

By laying gravel between these spaces, we express a sense of calmness and beauty reminiscent of a Japanese garden. The floor was finished by old lumber and floated in the space as a stage for encountering rare products. The stainless-steel showcase makes a sensation of an otherworldly bank vault and the rarity of the product stand out more. The display stand of the watch uses natural stone as it is, and by contrasting it with the natural beauty of the stone, it enhances the attractiveness of the artificial beauty of the wristwatch, which can be said to be the crystallization of advanced craftsmanship. 

You can bring your favorite products to the negotiation booth and carefully examine them. The booth is a neutral space finished with white steel and plastic and surface emission from the ceiling makes you can concentrate on the detail of the product. The strong contrast of various materials makes each space stand out independently. And through those “space” experiences, you can feel the connection with the concept of “time”.