Bronze Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2026
Kunamiterrace Sunset Cafe and Small Gallery
- A' Design Award 2026 Bronze Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Replus Co.,Ltd
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 7,730
- Verification code 6F87E35758 · Verify this award
About Kunamiterrace Sunset Cafe and Small Gallery
Kunamiterrace Sunset is a permanent beach house in Iwami Town, in the north of Tottori Prefecture, Japan, next to a geopark national park. The two-story wooden building holds a cafe with sunset views and a small gallery for solo exhibitions by local artists. The exterior is burnt cedar, the roof is galvalume steel sheet and the interior is structural plywood, so the building matches the local streetscape. A high reinforced concrete base protects the structure from strong northerly winds. Terrace seating is limited to keep the scale modest.
TOMOHIRO ARAKI's Kunamiterrace Sunset Cafe and Small Gallery emerges from the disciplinary evolution of contemporary timber architecture, engaging ongoing discourse regarding sustainable material practices, regional responsiveness, and phenomenological experience within the built environment. The design appears to draw upon mid-twentieth-century modernist vocabularies that celebrated structural honesty and material authenticity, while incorporating refined lighting strategies and atmospheric sensibilities characteristic of twenty-first-century architectural practice attuned to temporal experience and environmental dialogue. The compositional achievement resides substantially in the restrained material palette deployed with precision: the cool-toned concrete podium establishes substantial mass and anchoring presence, its board-formed surface texture revealing construction process and lending tactile depth to what might otherwise read as monolithic uniformity, while the warm timber ceiling plane activates the upper register through rhythmic modular slats that create both structural spanning system and luminous atmospheric device, the wood grain variations and natural honey tones suggesting material provenance and craft tradition. The technical facility evident in the integration of lighting systems demonstrates sophisticated environmental design thinking, the linear ground-level illumination tracing the concrete base perimeter creates the visual effect of dematerialization and levitation despite the evident mass, transforming heavy material into seemingly floating plane through strategic luminous intervention, while the concealed lighting above the slatted timber ceiling converts functional structure into radiant surface, the regular intervals between slats allowing controlled light emission that bathes the ceiling in warm glow while preventing glare and maintaining geometric clarity. The glazed curtain wall achieves notable transparency that reveals interior spatial organization, furnishing choices including prominent red upholstered seating that introduces saturated chromatic accent into otherwise neutral material palette, and human-scale proportions that establish approachable domesticity despite the building's formal architectural presence. The chromatic relationship between the cooling blue atmospheric envelope of twilight sky and the warming golden amber interior luminosity creates complementary temperature contrast that enhances the sense of refuge and gathering inherent in the typology of cafe and gallery, the building functioning as beacon and threshold between exterior natural environment and interior conditioned human occupation. The work appears to meditate upon threshold conditions in multiple registers: the temporal threshold of twilight transition between day and night, the material threshold between heavy concrete earthwork and light timber pavilion, the spatial threshold between public roadway and semi-public interior hospitality space, and the experiential threshold between exterior cooling atmosphere and interior warming enclosure. The slatted ceiling rhythm may reference vernacular building traditions employing repetitive timber elements for spanning, shading, and atmospheric modulation, while the cantilevered overhang extension suggests protective gesture and sheltering impulse fundamental to architectural archetypes of refuge. One might observe how the captured moment of blue hour illumination reveals the building's dual nature as both substantial material presence during daylight hours and dematerialized luminous phenomenon during evening hours, inviting consideration of architecture's capacity to transform across temporal cycles, to mark transition between states of occupation and environmental condition, and to create spaces of human gathering that register as beacons of warmth and life against diminishing natural light.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- I was commissioned to build a permanent beach house near a national park (geopark) in this area. In front of the house is a town-managed outdoor barbecue area that attracts more than 2,000 visitors annually. The shallow beach with big waves is a popular spot for surfers. However, while there were once dozens of guesthouses, only a few remain today, the town's population is declining, and aging is a serious problem. This area is designated as a stop for JR West's luxury tourist train (Zuife), but there are few accommodations, and I felt that the tourist resources were not being fully utilized. However, given the recent problems with overtourism, would transforming it into a tourist destination truly benefit the residents? After careful consideration, I began to make a basic plan. By using materials that match the surrounding townscape, the design does not detract from the scenery. By using natural materials, I was able to enjoy the maturation process. The observation terrace has limited seating capacity to avoid becoming an excessive tourist facility.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Building Data > Location: 604-5 Rikuchi, Iwami-cho, Tottori Prefecture Main Use: Shop (Permanent beach house and gallery) Completion Date: May 3, 2025 Size: Site area: 872.31 m2, Building area: 185.35 m2, 2-story wooden building
- Tags
- sea, side, house
- Production Technology
- Community-friendly design > Design that uses natural materials and is considerate of the streetscape. Interior: Structural plywood Exterior: Burnt cedar Roof: Galvalume steel sheet (original sheet) This area is directly exposed to strong northerly winds, but a dynamic design is provided by a single bay protruding from the exterior wall. This structure is achieved by using the roof itself as a horizontal plane without using beams on the second floor. The RC structure supporting the second-floor balcony prevents deterioration from the northerly winds, fixes the structure, and completes the design of the north facade. The 3.6m high RC wall is designed to make you want to go up to the second floor when you look up at it from the street. The back of this high foundation also functions as an exit to the gallery, and paintings and other works are displayed on the P-con on the wall surface, enhancing the completeness of the gallery. Glass is attached to the columns of the north facade, and no sashes are installed.
- Design Challenge
- A new tourist attraction has opened in Higashihama.
I was commissioned to design it last year, and it took me about a year and a few months to create a building suitable for this land.
It was a very intense period, both enjoyable and painful.
What kind of building is truly suitable for this land? It was a good opportunity to reconsider the meaning of building, and it's also my first project since turning 50.
I asked myself what kind of building would be loved by the local people and cherished for a long time.
I completed the construction while asking myself this question.
The first customers came to the shop before it was even finished. It was a pair of swallows.
Nature (animals) knows. What is a truly safe building? In that moment, I found the answer. - Project Duration
- 2024/10/1~2025/5/3
IWAMI TOTTORI JAPAN - Research
- My approach is to simplify everything by removing unnecessary elements from existing ones.
Instead of adding something, I use an almost infinite number of formulas and styles.
Adding elements or decorations to further emphasize character.
When applied to lifestyle, it's not about filling and decorating your home with furniture and other things.
Rather, it's about placing truly good and important things where they belong.
Making it clearer what's important and what needs to be done.
The term "minimalism" is frequently heard these days.
However, I believe this is not a fleeting trend.
But it is a concept that is easy to understand in many modern times.
Perfection is achieved when nothing is taken away.
In today's society, where the meaning and value of happiness are rapidly changing,
perhaps we are entering an era where we place more value on emotional and experiential things.
Instead of bringing wealth in the form of physical possessions or money,
Choosing only what is truly necessary and reducing personal possessions may lead to a more creative life. - Inspiration
- This permanent beach house is located in Iwami Town, the northernmost point of Tottori Prefecture, adjacent to the San'inkai Bay Geopark National Park. It features a sunset cafe where you can enjoy stunning sunsets from its prime location, as well as a small gallery hosting solo exhibitions by local artists. This facility offers a space where you can experience an extraordinary world while soothing your soul with the sound of the waves.
- Image Credits
- Photo by Tomonao Nagasaka