Blue Co., Ltd. Wins the 2025 Good Design Award
Blue Co., Ltd. Press Release: October 16, 2025 Blue Co., Ltd. Wins the 2025 Good Design Award Architectural Consulting Property – THE AKASAKA RESIDENCE S.O.A. – Blue Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Masaki Kiuchi), a comprehensive real estate consulting firm, has been awarded the 2025 Good Design Award (sponsored by the Japan Design Promotion Organization). The building in question is “Tsurunaka,” a
long-established Japanese restaurant that had been in business in Akasaka for 73 years. It has been reconstructed as an apartment building that preserves the restaurant’s cultural memory for the modern era. We provided consulting on real estate utilization, aiming to carry on the restaurant’s spatial philosophy of “alley-like atmosphere, boundary-like atmosphere, hospitality, and tranquility” into modern homes, foster new memories in daily life, and weave the city’s culture into the future.
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https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-3087a6c8bf159726d49e1b33d15a86ff-242×63.png □ Name: THE AKASAKA RESIDENCE S.O.A □ Location: Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo □ Property Overview: Site area: 278.49 square meters | Building area: 185.82 square meters | 10-story reinforced concrete structure | Total floor area: 1,480.85 square meters | Use: 15 apartment units and retail space □ Director: Blue Co., Ltd. Masaki Kiuchi Mitsui Fudosan Residential Lease Co., Ltd. □ Producer: Tsurunaka Co., Ltd. □ Designer: Takamatsu Construction Co., Ltd. Design Division □ Introduction page on the Good Design Award website
https://www.g-mark.org/gallery/winners/31140 〚Consulting Key Points〛 1. This traditional Japanese design, which was also incorporated into older buildings as restaurants and was used in the five-story pagoda of Horyuji Temple and the Ise Grand Shrine, is also used. A design based on the “Yamato ratio” 2. The traffic flow evokes the remnants of Akasaka’s restaurants. Designed with residents’ privacy in mind, Two-way entrance/exit EV is used 3. By incorporating elements of existing buildings, the space is designed to be one in which the experience of living there, along with the SDGs, is itself a immersive experience of the city’s history and culture. Real estate combined with art, creating a space that enhances asset value. 3 “THE AKASAKA RESIDENCE S.O.A ” Features 1. Background Akasaka Geisha District is said to have originated in the early Meiji period. At its peak around 1955, it was lined with approximately 80 traditional Japanese restaurants. Tsurunaka was established during this heyday and played a vital role in the district’s culture. However, this once bustling restaurant district has now transformed into a business district for the city, leading to the decision to rebuild Tsurunaka. This project quietly embraces the memory of the town’s fading culture and attempts to reconnect it to modern housing. The façade, which captures the traditions and styles rooted in the area and adopts the urban scale of the restaurant district and Yamato proportions, breathes new life into the local landscape. The tranquil and comfortable residence ensures privacy, and the separated circulation and common areas are imbued with a long-cultivated “atmosphere of hospitality.” Furthermore, by reconstructing the components of the existing building into a new structure, we are also attempting to physically preserve memories in the context of urban regeneration. Our goal was to connect the history and future of Akasaka, and to become a new prototype for urban apartment complexes. 2. Background and Results The design was conscious of extending the cultural value of the traditional Japanese restaurant “Tsurunaka” to modern homes. The 10-story building is segmented into modules every two or three stories, based on the urban scale of a low-rise restaurant district. The wall structure follows the traditional Japanese ratio, a symbol of Japanese beauty and a design often used in architecture since ancient times, and inherits its distinctive character. In the densely populated urban environment, the façade “opens yet responds gently,” ensuring privacy while letting light and air into the interior, building a quality relationship with the town. The low, deep eaves that welcome guests, the flow of people to the residence, and the antique artwork placed within the space exude a sense of hospitality. The spatial philosophy unique to restaurants has been reconstructed into a reinforced concrete apartment building, creating a dignified and elegant urban living space, with a tranquil and comfortable interior space separated from the outside, creating a sense of subtly enriching living experience. 3. Unique Common Areas: Real Estate x Art Ranma (transoms) and furnishings used in the restaurant are on display in the common areas for residents and visitors to enjoy.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-b95c0a3d6e3c3f3e4ad9f8dce84aceaa-2880×2057.jpg Car porch space
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-5a29a9b39c256faf69144899c8289bbf-2880×2057.jpg Entrance
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-b7502c9cb2071aeabd43d42d5e0f2e20-2880×2057.jpg Entrance
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-7a6f7a52d05e028f4db025fbdd36a13c-1928×2700.jpg Living room
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-bbfcf3fc30c4ba293fec55b27d437916-1928×2700.jpg Entrance
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-fde34a398610031a9cfbfb73d33bc18f-1928×2700.jpg Corridor
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98731/8/98731-8-7a4d5d18f90bd7ac3509f6878b0452e9-1928×2700.jpg Sunset ■About Blue Co., Ltd. As a group of real estate professionals, Blue Co., Ltd. will continue to utilize its real estate consulting capabilities to create new real estate and provide a variety of services. ■Company profile Company name Blue Co., Ltd. URL
https://blue-re.jp Representative: Representative Director Masaki Kiuchi Address: Maison Nomura 101, 2-44-11 Tomigaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Real Estate Association (Public Corporation), Tokyo Governor (1) No. 106571 TEL: 03-3466-3600 Email: info@blue-re.jp For more information about this release
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