Nakano-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Focusing on designs and spatial layouts that will allow children from various countries to deeply appreciate Japan’s traditional cultural heritage, Nobuaki Miyashita of MR STUDIO designs a new campus building for an international school with several decades of history in Japan.

The school outgrew its existing building in the city center, prompting the search for a new campus location in Yokohama City, which also offers convenient access from Tokyo.

The YN International School project has been awarded a 2023 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The campus, designed with this rice terrace concept, is well-suited as an environment where students’ intellects are nurtured, and their rich sensibilities are cultivated.

Furthermore, the unique sectional shape, gradually stacking from the north to the south of the site, fully complies with the strict shadow regulations of Japan’s building standards.

The ascending arrangement from north to south, where green-roofed open terraces overlap, recalls the richness of the Japanese landscape that once existed.

Despite being situated in an urban area, it creates a place where one can spend time considering environmental conservation and experiencing the abundance of nature.

In the interior planning, a large skylight and an open atrium space were secured, spanning across the center of the elongated building shape.

This created a beautifully well-lit environment in the building.

Glass partitions were used for classrooms to make the space open and inviting, aiming to foster various discoveries and interactions among students.

Project: YN International School
Designers: MR STUDIO Co., Ltd.
Lead Designer: Nobuaki Miyashita
Client: Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) 
Photographs: Courtesy of the Architects