Interview about Nagisa Bakery Interior Space, winner of the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award 2025
The spatial composition expresses the elements of shore and sea through line-emphasizing designs and colors. It proposes displaying baguette bread as surfboards against corrugated slate, a material commonly used for beach hut roofs. Eight shades of blue louvers are planned for the ceiling. Regarding color and pitch, the composition utilizes intervals and color scales to embody the melody of Nagisa Hotel, a component piece, thereby visualizing the beat of the chorus.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsNagisa in Nagisa Bakery means wave in Japanese. We wondered if we could express such a wave in the most eye-catching central fixture. The shape of a wave is an irregular curve, but it is too simple to express it by simply using a curved space. Furthermore, curves are more expensive to produce than straight lines. Therefore, we thought that by mixing materials with different expressions in the straight lines to create a gradation, we could express a wave-like curve in the straight lines.The selected materials are two types of laminated plywood. The cross section of laminated plywood is a collection of thin straight lines. We mainly used general laminated plywood, but in some parts, we randomly placed laminated plywood with green and blue cross sections from Takizawa Veneer Co., Ltd., a Japanese building material manufacturer, in the straight lines to express the appearance of waves in the straight lines.
The name Nagisa Bakery was inspired by the image of the song "Nagisa Hotel" by Japanese musician Southern All Stars. The song has a melody line like a gentle wave, and we thought that by embodying this melody line, we could express the wave. However, since the central fixture is the part we wanted to highlight as a space, we placed it so that the gaze would not be too concentrated. These louvers express the image of gentle waves in the ocean.The spacing of the louvers represents the melody of the song, and the colors represent the musical scale. The eight types of blue louvers form a gentle gradation, and were placed to gently bring the entire space together.These louvers are an essential base material for constructing the ceiling, so the construction costs are much lower than installing new louvers. Moreover, we designed them to be easily fixed in the necessary parts.
When I was thinking about how to display the products, the client told me that Nagisa Bakery would be focusing on baguette bread, so I searched for a way to display them that would evoke the sea. I wanted to use building materials like those used at beach huts, and while looking around beach huts and outdoor shops, I noticed surfboards leaning up against a particularly eye-catching wall. At that time, I thought that if I displayed the baguette bread like a long, thin surfboard, the unusual appearance would be memorable to customers. So I thought about whether I could display it leaning up like a surfboard, and I came up with the corrugated slate used on the roofs of beach huts. The baguette bread could be placed exactly in the recessed area formed by the wave shape. Products displayed in this way were an easy-to-understand way to communicate Nagisa Bakery's brand image, and customers developed an attachment to the store.
Due to budgetary constraints, it was important to select inexpensive materials that would match the brand image. However, the beach huts, which are one of the brand images, use building materials in their original state and with exposed base materials.By accepting this method of using materials frankly, we were able to maintain the brand image. As this project was low cost, we were able to think simply about the material selection. As a result, we were able to come up with ideas for using corrugated slate and louvers on the blue ceiling base, and ultimately we were able to create a design in a good direction.
One of the challenges for the bread display to function as a bakery was not only how easy it was to display the bread, but also how to visually reflect the owner's passion.We felt that the way to solve this problem was to come up with a display that would catch the customer's eye in a way that was in line with the concept of the product.When we observed the shape of baguette bread, the main product, we realized that because it is long and slender, it looks better and is more likely to catch the customer's eye when displayed upright than when displayed flat.We thought this would be a nice and balanced combination of the owner's passion for surfing and the way the baguette bread should be displayed.This display method of leaning the bread upright gave rise to the idea of leaning the baguette bread against a corrugated slate like a surfboard.
The principle is to decide the components of the space and to design based on those components. The space is clearly separated into materials to draw attention to the products, and the materials are mainly divided into blue and light beige. This represents the component "Ngisa." "Nagisa" means the place where the waves crash between the sea and the beach. The blue parts are generally lowered in brightness to represent the "sea," and the light beige parts are increased in brightness to represent the "sand beach." By deliberately incorporating low brightness parts into the space, the high brightness parts stand out, and by displaying products in those parts, it is easier to attract attention.
The design concept of Nagisa Bakery includes the element of a "beach house." One of the methods used to create a beach house is to reuse driftwood and waste materials washed up on the shore. In this project, we designed the space by reusing existing equipment and fixtures in a new way. In addition, some old wooden boards that the owner treasured were used as materials for the cash register counter, but this is in line with the design concept, so the act of reusing did not have a negative impact on the design concept. Rather, by actively reusing, we were able to further emphasize the concept. While using materials that customers have a deep attachment to, we were able to reduce overall costs, and the project was able to be implemented smoothly.
In order to express an atmosphere that is in line with the design concept within a commercial space, I believe it is important to give the overall space a simple shape that follows a regular module. If the overall space has a simple shape, it will be easier to realize the design concept you want to express within that space. It will be full of realism and more likely to reach the emotions of customers. In my design method, I use the golden ratio and the Japanese unit of measurement, shakkanho, as modules to create beautiful spaces. The dimensions of the overall space of Nagisa Bakery are formed according to these modules.
The owner's philosophy as a bakery and insurance agency is to bring energy to customers. For that reason, he wanted the interior of the store to be a comfortable, uplifting space, so he chose a bright place with a light beige base color. He also decided to display a large amount of merchandise on the central fixtures, so that customers would gather easily and the atmosphere would be lively and lively.He designed the store with the hope that the comfort and liveliness of the space would give customers who visit a little energy.
The color palette of the space was decided based on the design concept "Nagisa". The light beige represents the sand of the beach, the gray represents stones and reefs, and the blue represents the sea, expressing the melody of "Nagisa Hotel", the image song of the client's space. Eight blue colors were adopted for the colors "Ocean Blue", "Moon Shine Blue", "Morning Blue", "Adonis Blue", "Turquoise Blue", "Rio Blue", "Sapphire Blue", and "Marine Blue", and colors that evoke the sea were selected. By using eight shades of blue, a gradation is created rather than using only a single color, and it was thought that the design concept and the client's image of the space could be more visually expressed.
Dive into a world of design excellence with our curated highlights. Each feature showcases outstanding creativity, innovation, and impact from the design world. Discover inspiration and learn more about these incredible achievements.
