Interview about Embraced in Recycled Steel Office, winner of the A' Interior Space, Retail and Exhibition Design Award 2025
This office interior reimagines Kyoei Steel's recycled materials, including angle steel, rebars, and flat bars, as an architectural statement. Typically concealed structural elements become aesthetic focal points, emphasizing material strength and texture. Barcode and QR code motifs extend across the space, reinforcing the company's identity. Lighting highlights these patterns, creating a dynamic interplay between recycled steel, technology, and light. The design showcases the potential of repurposed materials while reflecting the fusion of industrial heritage and modern innovation.
View detailed images, specifications, and award details on A' Design Award & Competition website.
View Design DetailsThe barcode and QR code motifs symbolize Kyoei Steel’s evolution from traditional manufacturing to a digitally integrated enterprise. By translating industrial identity into a visual system, we expressed the company’s philosophy of “recycling with intelligence.” The black-and-white stripes are not decorative—they represent material data, process rhythm, and the circulation of resources, forming a new architectural language of industrial transparency.
The decision to expose rebar, steel plates, and structural components arose from a desire to reveal the beauty of manufacturing itself. Rather than concealing the structure, we transformed it into a spatial narrative about the cycle of creation. Each element retains its raw industrial character, yet collectively they create an atmosphere of precision and dignity—embodying the poetry of steel.
We conducted extensive experiments on how light interacts with recycled steel surfaces—testing gloss levels, oxide layers, and reflection angles. The interplay between matte and mirror finishes generated a dynamic rhythm under linear LED illumination. The final lighting composition allows steel to appear alternately solid and fluid, evoking both material strength and atmospheric delicacy.
The design process was guided by duality—roughness and refinement, industry and intellect. We balanced exposed structural elements with minimalist geometry and controlled lighting. The juxtaposition created a disciplined aesthetic: raw materials expressed honestly, yet organized with architectural precision. It’s a space where the industrial becomes sublime.
Consistency was achieved through a modular system based on the proportions of steel billets. Each spatial element—walls, ceilings, lighting—follows this invisible order. The repetition of linear forms unifies the diverse functions while subtle variations in scale and lighting intensity keep the experience dynamic and immersive throughout the vast area.
This project redefines sustainability not merely as resource reduction, but as “corporate circular identity.” By using recycled steel from Kyoei’s own production and designing for disassembly, we created an office that embodies the full lifecycle of materials. It positions architecture as a message: sustainability is achieved through continuity between industry, material, and design.
The billet-shaped seamless LEDs required precise fabrication to achieve both linear continuity and uniform brightness. We developed custom aluminum housings that integrate structural and lighting functions, reducing visible joints. This technical refinement reinforced the concept—light as material, structure as rhythm—merging engineering with poetic spatiality.
This project demonstrates that industrial materials can transcend utility and become cultural statements. I believe future corporate spaces will increasingly embrace this synthesis—where manufacturing identity informs spatial character. The Embraced in Recycled Steel Office repositions industry as design inspiration, not limitation.
Circulation spaces incorporate barcode-inspired lighting to subtly guide movement. The alternating rhythm of black steel and white light creates a cognitive flow—employees naturally navigate through contrast and repetition. This dynamic environment stimulates awareness and connects the act of movement to the company’s continuous production cycle.
Receiving the Silver A’ Design Award validated our exploration of industrial expression as architectural art. It encourages us to continue pushing boundaries between engineering and aesthetics. For me, the recognition signifies a growing global appreciation for sustainability not only as performance, but as cultural and emotional resonance.
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