Silver Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2025
Tokumitsu Taanto Public Restroom
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Life Housing Co., Ltd.,
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 23,352
- Verification code 2B957B6594 · Verify this award
About Tokumitsu Taanto Public Restroom
Tokumitsu Taanto is a public restroom interior located in Hakusan, Ishikawa, Japan. The room covers 25 square meters and has a ceiling height of 2.90 meters. More than 3,000 gold leaf tiles cover the walls. Each tile is a 200 millimeter square porcelain tile with a textured surface, finished with hand-applied Kanazawa gold leaf. The tiles are set against a dark background, and indirect lighting is arranged to reveal the reflective quality of the gold. The design applies a traditional Japanese craft to a contemporary public space.
Nobuaki Miyashita's Tokumitsu Taanto Public Restroom represents a remarkable meditation on the transformative potential of material choice within functional architecture, elevating the quotidian experience of passage into something approaching spiritual procession. The designer appears to draw upon centuries of gold leaf application traditions, perhaps referencing temple interiors and ceremonial spaces where precious metal surfaces have long signified transition between mundane and sacred realms. The technical achievement lies not merely in the application of luxurious material but in the sophisticated orchestration of light, reflection, and spatial compression that transforms a simple corridor into an experience of measured revelation. The rigorous geometric discipline of the tile grid provides counterpoint to the organic irregularity inherent in hand-applied metallic leaf, creating tension between industrial precision and artisanal warmth. One observes how the concealed lighting strategy at the corridor's terminus creates a graduated luminosity that seems to emanate from the destination itself, suggesting arrival at something significant rather than merely functional. The reflective black floor doubles the golden walls in its polished surface, creating an illusion of infinite vertical extension while maintaining the processional horizontal emphasis. The absolute darkness of the ceiling plane appears deliberate, providing visual respite and directing attention toward the radiant walls rather than allowing the eye to escape upward. This interior demonstrates how contemporary design practice can synthesize luxury materials, sophisticated lighting design, and spatial psychology to transform necessary architectural elements into memorable experiential moments. What might the experience of encountering such unexpected beauty in utilitarian context suggest about the potential for everyday spaces to nurture contemplation and wonder?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The Golden Restroom at Hakusan Gateway Tokumitsu TaanTo is a one-of-a-kind interior space featuring Kanazawa gold leaf, a traditional Japanese craft. Over 3,000 gold leaf tiles adorn the walls, shifting in appearance with changing light. Set against a dark backdrop, indirect lighting accentuates the golden glow, creating a surreal experience akin to a luminous chamber floating in space.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Room area: 25 square meters Ceiling height: 2.90m
- Tags
- interior design, gold leaf, luxury restroom, Kanazawa, cultural heritage, immersive experience
- Production Technology
- The gold leaf tiles are crafted using the UNESCO-listed Hand-Applied Gold Leaf technique. Each 200mm square porcelain tile features textured surfaces enhanced by meticulously applied gold leaf, creating depth and richness. The lighting design is strategically planned to maximize gold’s reflective qualities, enveloping the space in a serene, ethereal glow.
- Design Challenge
- The greatest challenge was crafting a space that maximizes the texture of gold leaf while maintaining a refined and immersive ambiance. Detailed studies of light angles and reflectivity were conducted to create a lighting design that showcases gold at its most mesmerizing.
- Project Duration
- The project is located in Hakusan, Ishikawa, Japan, and was completed in April 2021.
- Operation Flow
- The restroom offers visitors an immersive experience enveloped in golden radiance. Indirect lighting dynamically alters the expression of the gold leaf, transforming the space into a living artwork of light and shadow. Users feel as if they have stepped into an art installation, elevating a routine activity into an extraordinary encounter.
- Research
- English: Type of Research: Interior design study Objective: Exploring the potential of traditional craftsmanship in spatial design Methodology: Analysis of gold leaf’s light reflection properties, lighting simulations Data Collection: Reflectivity measurements, visitor sensory evaluations Results: Creation of an immersive design using gold leaf Impact: Introducing new applications for Japanese traditional crafts
- Inspiration
- English: The core inspiration of this project is to transform the beauty of Kanazawa gold leaf, a symbol of Kaga culture, into a contemporary spatial experience. The golden enclosure is designed to immerse visitors in the profound artistry of traditional craftsmanship. The interplay of gold's sheen and shadows evolves with time, creating a mesmerizing atmosphere.
- Image Credits
- Image #1,#2,#3,#4,#5: Photographer Nobuaki Miyashita, 2021
- Patents
- N/A
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G0E2 ShopGrand Interview about Tokumitsu Taanto Public Restroom
The journey began with a desire to reinterpret Kanazawa’s UNESCO-listed gold leaf craftsmanship beyond ornamentation. We sought to express its spiritual luminosity in a minimal, contemporary architectural language. By integrating over 3,000 hand-applied gold leaf tiles, the space becomes a dialogue between the past and present—honoring Kaga’s heritage while reimagining it through light, proportion, and silence.
We conducted detailed experiments analyzing the reflectivity and diffusion of light on gold surfaces at varying angles. The goal was not brightness, but depth. By adjusting the lighting to 35°–40°, we achieved an ever-shifting glow that reveals the gold’s micro-texture and subtle shadow gradients. The resulting atmosphere changes like a living organism as one moves through the space.
Public restrooms are often treated as purely functional spaces, but I wanted to redefine them as places of aesthetic and cultural reflection. Tokumitsu Taanto is not a restroom—it is a micro-architecture that celebrates Kaga’s artisanal pride. The golden enclosure creates a sanctuary-like experience, transforming a mundane routine into a contemplative encounter with Japanese craftsmanship.
This project demonstrates how traditional techniques can redefine everyday typologies. The recognition from the A’ Design Award affirms that even a small public facility can embody cultural value and artistic dignity. I hope this inspires architects to view traditional crafts not as nostalgic, but as living mediums that enrich daily life.
Applying gold leaf to 200mm porcelain tiles presented numerous challenges: surface tension, adhesive absorption, and static charge interference. Collaborating with Kanazawa artisans, we developed a special undercoat and micro-suction process to stabilize adhesion. These technical experiments ultimately led to a new hybrid method—where tradition meets precision engineering.
The key principle was “compressing infinity.” Within 25 square meters, we used light, reflection, and proportion to evoke boundless depth. The corridor’s perspective alignment and the continuous gold surfaces dissolve spatial boundaries, making the visitor feel enveloped by radiance rather than confined by walls.
Our studio philosophy is to uncover the latent identity of each project. Here, that identity lay in the spirit of Kaga craftsmanship—refinement born from repetition. By interpreting that precision and devotion through minimal geometry and light, we preserved tradition while revealing its modern resonance.
We discovered that gold leaf behaves almost like a living membrane—its tone changes with humidity, temperature, and even the viewer’s distance. This sensitivity became the core of the design. Rather than control it, we embraced its variability, allowing the space to breathe with natural fluctuations of light and air.
The initial concept was to create “a chamber of light detached from gravity.” Through controlled geometry, hidden fixtures, and perfectly balanced luminance, the gold walls seem to hover, making the visitor feel suspended within light. It is both tangible and immaterial—a poetic expression of Japanese transience and serenity.
Tokumitsu Taanto suggests a path where traditional crafts become catalysts for architectural innovation. As we move toward a sustainable future, I believe the reinterpretation of heritage through material intelligence and light will play a crucial role. The project is a statement that craftsmanship, when reimagined, can illuminate the architecture of tomorrow.