The town of Sakawa initially requested that the building be sited toward the west of the plot, so that the existing paved surface of the former heliport could be reused as a parking area. To make the most of what this place had to offer, however, we placed the building along the south edge of the site instead, nestled against the plaza that needed to be developed there. This strengthened the connection to the plaza and, by separating pedestrian and vehicle circulation, improved safety for visitors. The result is a secure environment where children can run freely across the lawn, and a stronger relationship between the building, the plaza, and the surrounding landscape.

The building steps in a staggered, echelon-like plan, so that from anywhere inside, sightlines pass through to the outside and the surrounding landscape feels close at hand. Because neither end of the space is visible from the entrance, visitors are drawn further and further in, arriving eventually at the lawn plaza — a comfortable open space ringed by Sakawa's beautiful mountains, where children run freely and encounter nature directly. Activity is never confined within the building; architecture and landscape lean into one another, coexisting as a single relationship.

The Kasten structure was chosen because it requires minimal vertical space to secure adequate ceiling height while making full use of its downward-curving form. Originally devised in steel by the engineer Mamoru Kawaguchi, it is a groundbreaking structural system that needs no backstay. Here, the framing members use only ordinary sawn lumber — not a single piece of glue-laminated timber — to achieve a large clear span. Using cedar grown in Kochi Prefecture both sequesters carbon and reduces the emissions that would come from transporting timber from elsewhere, making this an environmentally considerate building built from local materials for local use.