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Hotel Kabuki adds Shou Sugi Ban Style
One of San Francisco’s hippest boutique hotels, Hotel Kabuki, recently unveiled the second phase of its expansive, two-year $32 million renovation. Located in the heart of the city’s Japantown, the hotel is known for its blend of boho elements and contemporary Japanese design. The hotel’s interiors showcase the shou sugi ban technique—traditionally used to fireproof old Japanese houses by burning or charring wood, producing a lived-in, warm effect. The recent renovations have added some new elements worth highlighting, including a long-anticipated lobby bar serving Japanese-influenced cocktails and bites, as well an impressive selection of Japanese whiskeys. Next time you are in San Francisco, make sure to stop by! Read more about the renovation at Forbes Magazine.
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Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life
Fascinating documentary from 2011 on the convergence of nature, conservation and architecture. Watch the Trailer. What is Biophilic Design? Ultimately, biophilic design is more about restoring our connection to nature than it is about adopting a new methodology for designing the built environment. Its accomplishment will therefore, require a fundamental shift in human consciousness that leads to a new ethic of responsibility for caring for the earth and our relationship to it. The heart of this challenge is a modern world that has forgotten in so many ways how much our physical, mental and even spiritual health and well-being continue to rely on the quality of our relationship to nature. The promise of…
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Escape to a Shou Sugi Ban Tree House in the English Forest
A magical tree-house retreat has opened its doors in the village of Lee in England’s stunning North Devon region. Built largely by hand, this luxurious one-bedroom rental is dressed in a combination of reclaimed and modern materials. Set within remote woodland, the Treehouse Retreat immerses guests in a private paradise in nature without sacrificing modern comforts. Built to sleep two, the two-story Treehouse Retreat is clad in locally sourced cedar charred using Shou Sugi Ban, a Japanese technique that enhances the grain of the wood and naturally protects it from rot, pests and the elements. Timber is used throughout the interior as well to tie the tree-house to its surroundings. Reclaimed flooring from an old…
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Silicon Valley Retreat takes Cues from Shou Sugi Ban and Nature
High above Silicon Valley sits a striking home with a two-story volume clad in blackened cedar. Schwartz and Architecture designed the Shou Sugi Ban House, which is named after the traditional Japanese method used to burn the wood, which wraps it in a layer of carbon highly resistant to water, fire, and mold. The charred timber volume is an extension to an existing one-story home, the interior of which was also substantially remodeled by the architects. Located on the crest of a hill in Los Gatos, California, Shou Sugi Ban House is a renovation and expansion project that takes inspiration from the surrounding landscape, including the texture and look of boulders, bark, and leaves.…
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Craftsman Creates Stylish Exteriors with Shou Sugi Ban
An increasing number of Western architects and designers these days create arresting exteriors using a process known as shou sugi ban, a centuries-old Japanese technique for preserving and finishing wood by charring it with fire. The treatment — which leaves behind a dense, carbonized layer of blackness — has been around since at least the 18th century, though earlier examples exist. It began as a practical process used mostly for fencing and the facades of rural homes and storehouses, which held valuables, like rice, that families hoped to protect from blazes. Interestingly, while it is no longer as popular as it once was in Japan, it’s found new life in the…
