Garden House is a new shop in Kamakura, an ancient capital of Japan. It’s a city where many historic ruins remain and which is much-loved to this day by Japan’s literati. The project renovated and converted the former studio of manga artist Ryuichi Yokoyama, which sits in the Onarimachi area near Kamakura Station. The shop includes a 110-seat café and restaurant with attached terrace, as well as a “general store” (selling various lifestyle products) and a garden shop.The concept for the renovation project was “local and craft”. Jamo was responsible for the interior and exterior of this community destination. We adopted eclectic styles, including retaining various elements to keep the memory of the 50-year old residence alive, as well as decorating spaces with Scandinavian and arts-and-crafts styles and finishing the wood in the ceilings with a so-called “u-zukuri” technique, which rubs the soft part of the wood to bring out its beautiful texture. Jamo tried to create a space that exists in balance with nature and has a sense of “universality” required of a contemporary experimental space such as this. One way in which Jamo tried to accomplish this is through the graphical use of triangular wood fiber boards in the wall of the booth seats area, with the pattern indicate forest. Another is through the expression of contemporary modern craft while also keeping minimal boundaries between interior and exterior spaces.Tree House was built by “tree house creator” Takashi Kobayashi. The office SOLSO, which works in landscape design and plant coordinating, collaborated on the landscaping and garden shop. The gift shop Early Birds, which Jamo's Chinatsu Kambayashi run, collaborated on the shop's general store.

The new destination building "Hikarie" opened in Tokyo's Shibuya area April 2012. Jamo was asked to design the central lounge for a members-only workspace for creative types called "8/". Located on the building's 8th floor and produced by the company Kokuyo Furniture, the lounge is designed around the idea of serving as a "town square". "8/" is intended to be new type of workspace that builds an organic community around it and puts into practice the idea of a Shibuya-style way of working. With this in mind, Jamo felt it was important to set the space up with a sense of openness and a relaxing atmosphere. For example, elements from city parks are built into the space, such as seating that comes from the same kind of benches used in New York's Central Park, classically styled stairways, and cubicles built with the feel of a classic telephone booth. At the same time, Jamo creates various "scenes" where communication can spontaneously come to life and where a "town square" is recreated with high degree of flexibility and public openness.