Gold Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2025
Embraced in Recycled Steel Office
- A' Design Award 2025 Gold Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Kyoei Steel Ltd
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 71,321
- Verification code C8381B71D0 · Verify this award
About Embraced in Recycled Steel Office
Embraced in Recycled Steel is an office building for a steel recycling company in Yamaguchi, Japan. The exterior adopts a stacked structure inspired by steel billets, with special coatings that create textural variation. The interior uses angle steel, flat bars and deformed steel bars as finish materials, bringing structural elements into open view. Barcode and QR code motifs extend through the spaces, and seamless LED fixtures shaped like billets are combined with steel louvers on the ceiling. The building has four floors above ground and a maximum height of 19.9 meters.
Nobuaki Miyashita's Embraced in Recycled Steel Office, recipient of the Golden A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design, represents a significant contribution to the evolving discourse surrounding sustainable material practice within contemporary architectural production. The structure emerges from traditions of late modernist formal experimentation, where volumetric articulation and material expression converge to produce buildings that function simultaneously as functional enclosures and sculptural assertions within their environmental contexts. The architect's decision to employ recycled steel as the primary cladding material demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of how sustainable practice need not compromise aesthetic ambition, indeed the resulting surface qualities of the reconstituted material lend the facades a distinctive character that distinguishes the work from conventional steel construction. The compositional strategy of stacking horizontal cantilevered volumes against a stabilizing vertical anchor creates dynamic visual tension, suggesting the building's embrace of progressive structural possibilities while maintaining grounded permanence. Technical accomplishment is evident in the precision of panel alignment, the careful calibration of surface tones across different facade orientations, and the masterful handling of the building's relationship to natural light, which sculpts the forms through shadow and highlight throughout the diurnal cycle. Thematically, the work may be understood as an architectural meditation on transformation, where materials previously serving other purposes find renewed life and elevated expression through thoughtful design intervention. The industrial setting contextualizes this transformation, positioning the building as both product and symbol of conscientious making within productive landscapes. One might contemplate how architectural beauty and environmental responsibility find mutual expression in forms that honor both aesthetic tradition and contemporary ecological imperatives.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Kyoei Steel recycles steel scrap using electric furnaces. The new Yamaguchi office themed An Office Embraced in Recycled Steel embodies this transformation. The exterior draws from stacked billets while the interior uses locally sourced angle steel and rebars. Barcode and QR code designs extend through office spaces, harmonizing steel and light. The lighting design transforms these patterns into three dimensional forms, adding depth and movement, symbolizing Kyoei Steel’s identity and vision.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Site Area: 108,045.44 Square meters
Building Area: 1,091.12 Square meters
Total Floor Area: 3,931.89 Square meters
Structure: RC
Number of Floors: 4 above ground
Maximum Height: 19.9 m
Eaves Height: 16.5 m
Floor Height: 3.9 m
Ceiling Height: 2.9 m - Tags
- architecture, office, lighting design, recycled steel, sustainable design
- Production Technology
- The building’s exterior adopts a stacked structure inspired by Kyoei Steel’s billets, with special coatings creating textural variations symbolizing recycling. The interior features angle steel, flat bars, and deformed steel bars as finish materials, bringing typically hidden structural elements into the architectural expression. The lighting design integrates seamless LED fixtures shaped like billets, harmonizing with steel louvers on the ceiling for a cohesive lighting environment.
- Design Challenge
- The main challenge was to create an architecture that symbolizes the company’s identity without compromising factory functionality. The project required extensive testing to utilize steel materials not only structurally but also aesthetically. Special focus was given to the QR code-inspired vertical design and lighting integration, which underwent multiple prototypes and refinements to achieve the desired effect.
- Project Duration
- The project commenced in early 2022 in Yamaguchi, Japan, with design and planning phases focused on integrating Kyoei Steel’s identity into the architecture. Construction began in mid-2023, aiming to unify office functions while enhancing operational efficiency and employee engagement. The office was completed in early 2024, creating a sustainable workspace that embodies the company’s commitment to steel recycling and innovation.
- Operation Flow
- This building visualizes Kyoei Steel’s recycling process, transforming the journey of recycled scrap metal into an architectural experience. The stacked billet-inspired exterior symbolizes material circulation, while the interior features angle steel and deformed bars as finish materials. The stairwell integrates a QR code motif with lighting, creating an interplay of steel and light that intuitively communicates the company’s technology and commitment to sustainability.
- Research
- Type of Research: Architectural design research
Research Objectives: Exploring recycled steel’s potential in architecture
Methodology: Material analysis and spatial testing
Data Collection: Mock-ups and lighting simulations
Participants: Designers, engineers, technical experts
Results: The building serves as a showroom, demonstrating recycled steel’s architectural potential
Impact: Set a benchmark for sustainable design while enhancing corporate branding and public awareness - Inspiration
- The design reflects the process of transforming recycled scrap metal into new steel products, embodying Kyoei Steel’s commitment to sustainability. The stacked billet-inspired structure symbolizes the recycling and regeneration of steel resources, visually expressing the company's dedication. The interior incorporates the company’s own steel materials, such as angle steel, rebars, and flat bars, ensuring their strength, durability, and aesthetic appeal are fully showcased throughout the space.
- Image Credits
- Image #1,#3,#4 : Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita Variations, 2024
Image #2,#5 : Photographer Sato Kenta, Variations, 2024. - Patents
- N/A
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The idea originated from observing Kyoei Steel’s recycled billets—solid, weighty, and full of narrative. I wanted to reinterpret these industrial forms not as raw materials but as architectural expressions of renewal. Through the stacking and layering of billet-inspired volumes, the building symbolizes the cyclical rebirth of steel. It transforms industrial matter into a spatial metaphor of sustainability, where strength and refinement coexist.
The barcode and QR code motifs evolved from the idea of connecting the analog materiality of steel with the digital future of manufacturing. The vertical rhythm represents data flow and production traceability. Technically, integrating LEDs into these narrow vertical slots was challenging; we developed custom aluminum channels to achieve precise light diffusion without visible fixtures, transforming digital code into architectural light.
Consistency across the vast area was achieved through a modular rhythm derived from billet proportions. Every element—facade panels, ceiling grids, lighting strips—follows this proportional rule. By repeating and scaling this module, the design maintains harmony while adapting to each functional zone. The sustainable concept thus becomes not only material-based but also systemic, embedded in the architectural logic itself.
The stairwell serves as the building’s symbolic core. Here, recycled steel bars and billet-shaped LEDs intertwine vertically, representing Kyoei Steel’s philosophy of “steel connecting people.” The light travels along these rods like flowing energy, guiding users upward. Functionally, it ensures safety and openness; symbolically, it embodies the company’s technological elevation and collective growth.
We developed a multi-layer coating system combining zinc primer, black epoxy, and metallic silica particles. This method creates a nuanced surface that changes from matte gray to deep metallic tones depending on sunlight. It visually narrates the recycling process—the transformation of steel from raw to refined—turning the facade into a living skin that reflects both time and craftsmanship.
These components are usually hidden within structures, but here they take center stage. By exposing them, we wanted to reveal the unseen artistry of manufacturing. Each material retains its industrial texture—scratches, weld marks, oxidation—becoming a trace of human craftsmanship. The design redefines steel not as a cold material but as a carrier of memory and human touch.
While meeting the practical demands of an office—efficiency, comfort, and workflow—we also sought to create an emotional narrative of sustainability. Spatial planning follows rational logic, while lighting and material choices evoke emotional resonance. This balance allows the workplace to become both a functional infrastructure and a symbolic statement of corporate values.
The billet-shaped LEDs were conceived as architectural metaphors for steel rebirth. Their linear continuity mirrors the extrusion process of steel billets, while the seamless junctions eliminate visual interruption. Custom diffusers and heat-dissipating channels ensure durability and clarity. The light itself becomes a sculptural element—symbolizing both structure and illumination as one.
The design allows visitors to “read” Kyoei Steel’s identity through space itself. From the recycled materials to the lighting choreography, every element tells a story of regeneration. For employees, the building becomes a daily reminder of their contribution to a sustainable cycle—transforming work into participation in a shared vision.
The A’ Design Award acknowledged not only the project’s aesthetic innovation but its ethical vision. It proves that industrial architecture can transcend its utilitarian nature to embody corporate philosophy and environmental responsibility. This recognition motivates us to keep exploring how recycled materials can narrate the beauty of transformation in future corporate architecture.