Press Release
Oott Hotels by Toru Teraoka Is Granted the Silver A' Design Award in Hospitality, Recreation, Travel and Tourism Design
Toru Teraoka acknowledged for hospitality, recreation, travel and tourism design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 28, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Silver A' Design Award in the Hospitality, Recreation, Travel and Tourism Design category for Oott Hotels by Toru Teraoka, designed for OOTT | Toru Teraoka. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
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.
Regarding Oott Hotels
Set within the forests of Karuizawa, this hall is conceived as a place where architecture, nature, and community intersect. Developed over nearly a decade through collaboration between client, builder, and architect, it forms part of an evolving landscape with dog friendly facilities. The building serves as a communal lounge and indoor training space. When large openings are opened, the interior aligns with the forest, allowing landscape to flow through. A layered roof brings soft daylight, creating a calm atmosphere. Simple timber construction shows how modest means integrate with nature.
About Toru Teraoka
We are an architectural practice dedicated to translating Japanese aesthetics into spatial form, exploring how intangible cultural values can be embodied through architecture. Based in Tokyo and Hiroshima, Japan, our work spans a wide range of building types, with a primary focus on timber construction. Through the careful use of materials, structure, and craftsmanship, we aim to create spaces that foster a subtle yet profound relationship between people, nature, and the built environment.
Award Record
This recognition makes Toru Teraoka a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Hospitality, Recreation, Travel and Tourism Design Award
The A' Hospitality Design Award is an international hospitality design competition recognizing good hospitality designs by best hospitality designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to hospitality designers, architects, hospitality brands and hotel chains from all countries. Typical entries include hotels, restaurants, resorts, cafes, bars and cruise ships. The awarded hospitality designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/hospitality
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is 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. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously 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. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which 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, uploading a work and receiving a 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. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/182469
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182469
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182469
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/373393
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.ritas-ranch.com/
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
- Oott Hotels
- Function
- Hotels
- Category
- Hospitality, Recreation, Travel and Tourism Design
- Discipline
- Service Design
- Industry
- Food & Hospitality and Sports
- Colors
- Black, Dark Slate Gray and Dark Salmon
- Images
- 5
- Client
- OOTT | Toru Teraoka
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Toru Teraoka
- Country
- Japan
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182469
Credits
- Image Credits
- All photo : Photographer / Tatsuya Tabii
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- A hall nestled in the forest of Karuizawa, a renowned summer retreat. For ten years, the client, builder, and architect have continued developing the facility together, overcoming the pandemic and social change to create a contemporary Japanese architecture with enduring universality. Tents for guests with dogs, a dog school, and a grassy run are dispersed across the site, expanded step by step. Conceived for hospitality and sustainable community, the hall extends seamlessly into nature.
- Inspiration
- The project shows deep respect for the delicate workings of nature, fostering empathy in its visitors. By placing nature at the center, it seeks harmony between people and environment. Built in timber, the space connects seamlessly with the surrounding landscape and remains committed to sustainability. Developed amid rising material costs during the pandemic, it balances design quality and budget through the use of standard materials and conventional methods, embodying coexistence with nature.
- Research
- The design shows deep respect for material essence. Timber and minimal concrete are left exposed, creating refined architectural honesty. Visitors enter a bright space clad in hinoki cypress, continuous with grass and trees, honoring Japanese beauty. External insulation ensures comfort in harsh winters, while the exposed wooden frame expresses both structure and performance. Rooted in its locale, it embodies a Japanese aesthetic connected to the world.
- Challenge
- For a decade, the same client, builder, and architect worked together, building trust and creating a structure that embodies coexistence with nature. Amid rising material and labor costs during the pandemic, balancing design and budget was crucial. The plan secures needed area and generous volume while controlling cost. Timber was hand-crafted and assembled manually, concrete minimized, and local carpentry with few metal fittings reduced environmental impact.
- Realization and Technology
- All square timbers are unified to the standard Japanese size of 120×120 mm, while selected beams use 60×120 mm members hand-split by local carpenters, balancing structural logic with spatial richness. Though based on structural analysis, the joinery conceals its complexity. Developed amid rising material costs during the pandemic, the design balances quality and budget, minimizes concrete, and uses local carpentry with minimal metal fittings to reduce environmental impact.
- Operation and Interaction
- The building serves as a lounge for guests and a dog training space on rainy days. When both sides are opened, the forest extends through the hall, and soft light enters from high windows between the three roofs, creating a transparent space rooted in Japanese sensibility. It connects visitors with local nature. Located among private villas, it also functions as a café and open community hub, fostering ties between travelers and residents.
- Project Duration and Location
- Completed in 2023, the project has received numerous awards both in Japan and internationally.
- Keywords
- Japan, Karuizawa, Japanese design, timber architecture, wooden structure, hotel, architecture, nature
