[ Architecture ]Mirror polished stainless for a gorgeous space
When tasked with creating a shopping area based on the theme of ‘changing the shoppingexperience’, the team at Kikukawa turned to highly polished stainless steel to create abright and inclusive space.
Text by Joanne McIntyre, Images courtesy of Kikukawa

Kikukawa recently contributed to themetal construction of one of Isetan
Shinjuku’s remodelling projects, the 5thfloor watch shop in Tokyo.
The theme of this renovation was‘changing the shopping experience.’ To
cast aside the luxurious and exclusive
space of the previous watch shops, thenew shop aimed to balance a bright andgorgeous space that allows casual dropins while also maintaining the brandworld-views.
The theme of the decorations is‘Courtyards of Churches in the Middle
Ages’ and this is visible in details suchas the circular displays and the vividly
coloured interiors. Kikukawa’s mirror
polish finished stainless steel ceilingwww.stainless-steel-world.net

and partition frames also contributed toimplementing the design intent.

design. This project was the first toapply this system using a water ripple
design panel.

Water ripple panelled ceiling
The shop’s ceiling is lined with embossed,
mirror polished stainless steel in the ‘Water
Ripple’ pattern. The ceiling includes six
invisible access panels measuring 948mm
by 600mm. These panels are endowedwith details that conceal the frames,
locking system, and hardware.
The invisible access panel system
conceals the hardware, or frames, of theceiling. The panels open with a single
touch to a special thin plate. Being
virtually indistinguishable from the restof the ceiling panels, the access panels
blend seamlessly into the ceiling andStainless steel partition frames
Curved stainless steel partitions create
three semi-private spaces within
the watch shop. These curved glass
partitions measure 1560mm in radius,2560mm in height.
Kikukawa crafted the screen frames thathouse the 60mm wide, 300mm tall glass
blocks using 5mm by 25mm mirror
polished stainless steel flat bars and12 stainless steel bars. Five different
patterns of frames were crafted toaccommodate the diverse patterns of
the glass block placements.
Stainless Steel World December 2021

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[ Architecture ]Curved glass partitions create semi-privateareas for customers inside the Isetan shop.

The water ripple ceiling panels are the perfect accompaniment to the brightly lit
displays.

As the installation of these glass
blocks was to be accomplishedby other contractors, Kikukawa
devised details that allowed smooth
installation despite the curved surface.
Placing a specialized mechanism in
a component that is the size of a little
finger was challenging, but in doing

so, the team was able to implement aslim screen.

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Local quality supplier
While the client was initially considering
overseas material for the water ripple
ceiling, this was deemed impossible
due to the quick delivery requirements.

Kikukawa’s water ripple finished sample
was selected when the client searched
for a domestic material that could
accommodate the limited timeline.
Given the short delivery and mass
production requirements, Kikukawa
crafted prototypes and mock-ups swiftlyto create high-standard products.

www.stainless-steel-world.net