Hatago VISON

Accommodation and shop complex in VISON

2021@Taki, Mie Prefecture

The Hatago is one of the lodging facilities in VISON. Four tiered terrace house buildings fitted to the geography stand surrounding a courtyard. The first floor consists of shops and the second floor is accommodation in each building. We aimed to create a theater-like space where people can feel the bustle of streets from the guestrooms. Large windows were adopted to create a design where they can become part of the landscape both inside and out.

Photos by Takenori Hikosaka/SS (all of this page)

The challenge in the master plan was how to balance and achieve both the bustle of a commercial facility that welcomes many day-trippers by being on a major traffic line from WA-VISON and other commercial areas to Honzo spa as well as the comfort of an accommodation facility. We came up with the concept of a theatrically immersive accommodation facility, drawing on its busy locale. By overlapping the theatrical actor-audience relationship on the closeness of the hatago (travel lodge) window side and the streets as seen in Japanese period dramas, we envisioned a scenery of guests enjoying the tasteful window-side view of the bustling streets filled with people walking back from hot springs. This is not a pursuit of a nostalgic period drama theme park, but an attempt to integrate the Japanese spatial structure where people can feel the abundant wonders that each season brings into a modern context.

Layout: Four buildings facing each other with a courtyard in the center. The top side of the screen shows WA-VISON (commercial area), with a wooded area in-between.
Bird’s eye view: The premises are a gentle uphill along a natural terrain. The open area in the front is wooded and melts into the mountain scenery.
Guestroom façade: Overlaps of thin roofing generates a light feel.
Hallway façade: View from the wooded side. Large windows are fitted in front of the guestroom doors so people inside are visible.
Streets: Guests can feel the bustling streets from their rooms.
EV area windows
Hatago entrance: Each building has an entrance to the accommodation section amid the shops.
Foyer: Ryokan (Japanese hotel) style, where guests are asked to take off their shoes upon entering the site.
Second floor hallway: Hallway is sloped along with the terrain.
Guestrooms: Interior design differs with each building. Photos: Takenori Hikosaka/SS (all of this page)