Kaikatei Kuri-ya
This project is one of the alley revitalization initiatives in Hamamachi, which once flourished as the center of Fukui City’s entertainment district. It was planned as a shop to sell Fukui’s rich local foods and sake, and is a PPP project between Fukui City and private partners.
Across the alley stand the main building of Kaikatei, one of Fukui’s representative traditional restaurants, and its annex sou-an (2008), designed by our office. To the east is an elegant Western-style house reconstructing the residence of Griffis*, who had ties to Fukui. To the west is CRAFT BRIDGE, a workshop for Fukui’s craftsmen produced by Teruo Kurosaki. The alley in Hamamachi, which at one time seemed as if its lights had gone out, is now gradually being revived as a walkable street that once again becomes a center of Fukui’s urban culture.
In order to achieve a human scale and warm texture appropriate to an alley, the façade and interior were designed by stacking small wooden boxes. On the exterior, the wooden boxes are used as green boxes for planting, while in the interior they function as shelves for displaying and storing food products.
*: William Elliot Griffis
