Press Release
Metoa Ginza Showroom by Shigeru Kubota Is Granted the Silver A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
Shigeru Kubota of Degins JP acknowledged for interior space and exhibition design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 24, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Interior Space and Exhibition Design category for Metoa Ginza Showroom by Shigeru Kubota of Degins JP, designed for Metoa Ginza. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Silver A' Design Award
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
About Metoa Ginza Showroom
This is a space themed around the encounter between cutting-edge technology and people. Through the exhibits of each business, technology and art meet, and people meet those exhibits. People connect through the cafe, and a community is born. As these encounters continue to connect, they will remain in people's memories and give them a favorable impression of the facility. The two-layered honeycomb panels surrounding the elevator create a flower-like pattern when one of the honeycombs is rotated 90 degrees. This conveys the message that technology will connect to create a happier world.
About Shigeru Kubota
Focused on the profound goal of creating beautiful and sustainable communities, the designer seamlessly integrates beauty, functionality, originality, abundance, and comfort into every architectural and interior project. Their unique design process involves a deep, sensory engagement with the surrounding urban environment—carefully listening to the city’s breathing, observing the vibrant shift of street colors, and connecting sincerely with the diverse voices of its people.
About Degins JP
Architecture, Planning, Design, Supervision,Space design, Brand strategy, Business production,Design consultant, Product design, Urban planning
Award Record
With this recognition, Shigeru Kubota of Degins JP is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award
The A' Interior Design Award is an international interior design competition recognizing good interior designs by interior designers and architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to interior designers, interior architects, architects and decorators from all countries. Entries typically include residential interiors, restaurants, hotels, offices, galleries and retail stores. Awarded interior designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/interior
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/176030
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/176030
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!176030
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/372407
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://x.gd/ghVW3
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Metoa Ginza Showroom
- Function
- Showroom
- Category
- Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Black, Light Slate Gray, Gray, Silver and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Metoa Ginza
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Shigeru Kubota
- Country
- Japan
- Brand
- Degins JP
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #176030
Credits
- Team
- Arata Maruyama, Masato Tanaka, iPLANET Incorporated, MURAYAMA INC., WORKTECHT&Co., Norimichi Hirakawa, amana inc., WOW Inc., Kyoeisha Co., Ltd., HAY hutte design, Yosi Horikawa and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and others
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Metoa Ginza is Mitsubishi Electric's showroom, designed to showcase its 12 businesses. In order to introduce various technologies from home appliances to space, medical, and infrastructure, in a limited space, we proposed a layout with a community cafe on the first floor and exhibition spaces on the second and third floors, where events are held four times a year to showcase the 12 businesses. The exhibition was designed to be like a gallery, with the concept of Cutting-edge Technology and art.
- Inspiration
- A place, theme of meeting people, based on the concept of Touch of Advancement. Each business's exhibition brings technology and art to meet people and the cafe brings people to create a community. These are connected and the design conveys the message: technology brings happiness to people. The two-layer honeycomb panels surrounding the elevator create a flower-like pattern when one side is rotated 90 degrees. It messages that technology will come together to create a happier world.
- Research
- Mitsubishi Electric is involved in various businesses, including home appliances, elevators, space, robotics, medical equipment, and infrastructure. To appeal these businesses, the company went beyond simply displaying its products and incorporated the perspectives of artists to express its technologies as works of art, creating new experiences and positive impressions. Achieving this required understanding and decision-making on the part of the company through research and persuasion.
- Challenge
- The huge honeycomb panels surrounding the elevator are double-layered, and when the honeycomb panels on the back side are rotated 90 degrees and stacked, a flower pattern is created, symbolizing the overlap of technology brings happiness to people. The structure piercing through three floors was difficult to realize, but it was completed by dividing the hexagons into parts and connecting them together. The translucent white color shines in the light, brightly expressing people's happiness.
- Realization and Technology
- In addition to design, we were heavily involved in overall branding from a comprehensive production perspective and worked to raise awareness by unifying the design of the naming, logo design, key visuals, main videos, uniforms, goods, and other elements. We also requested the cafe on the first floor to develop a menu in accordance with Mitsubishi Electric's event and conducted unified event promotions on all floors.
- Operation and Interaction
- Metoa GINZA is Mitsubishi Electric's showroom with a cafe on the 1st floor and exhibition spaces on the 2nd and 3rd floors, where exhibitions have been changed 4 times a year. Rather than simply displaying products, the showroom collaborates with artists to create an experience that can be enjoyed as art. Over the past 10 years, 6 million people have visited here, which has established itself as a place for new discoveries. After closing, the showroom will tour the country as the event, Metoa.
- Project Duration and Location
- This project began in Tokyo in October 2014 and was completed and opened on March 31, 2016. It closed on August 4, 2025.
- Specifications
- The showroom covers a total area of approximately 900 square meters across three floors. The first floor is primarily dedicated to a cafe area, while the second and third floors are allocated for exhibition spaces.
- Keywords
- Mitsubishi Electric, Event space, 100th anniversary, Corporate exhibition, Communication space, Corporate museum, Corporate brand promotion
