Norm Architects and Keiji Ashizawa define a new interior aesthetic for the Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park in Tokyo

The Trunk Hotel Yoyogi Park boasts an exposed raw concrete facade, a collaborative creation of Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design and Danish firm Norm Architects. This boutique hotel, the third installment in the Tokyo-based Trunk hotel trio, embraces the concept of “urban recharge,” seeking harmony between tradition and modernity, nature and the city, and the fusion of Japanese and European craftsmanship.

The seven-story building features a textured concrete aggregate facade with steel-lined balconies offering panoramic views of Yoyogi Park’s lush treetops. Keiji Ashizawa Design , in partnership with Norm Architects , crafted a minimalist interior accessible through a copper-clad entrance.

The hotel comprises 20 guest rooms and five suites, adorned with a muted color and material palette, including hardwood flooring and Hotta Carpet-designed rugs inspired by traditional Japanese architecture. Delicate rattan partition walls delineate spaces within the rooms, leading to balconies designed with slanted ceilings to maximize sunlight penetration.

Norm Architects co-founder Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen described the design journey as a quest for balance between a relaxed and vibrant atmosphere. Paper-cord chairs, tapered washi pendant lights, abstract artworks, vases, and floor-to-ceiling bathroom tiles contribute to the minimalist aesthetic of the rooms.

On the ground floor, the hotel restaurant features oak seating by Norm Architects for Karimoku, a copper-clad pizza oven, and rattan accents mirroring the guest rooms. The open-air pool club on the sixth floor boasts sand-blasted concrete flooring, a captivating infinity swimming pool with thin bluey-green tiles overlooking Yoyogi Park, and a “glowing” firepit for evening ambience against the Tokyo skyline.

Trunk Hotel’s unique design journey creates a unified space where architecture, interior, and furniture collaborate to offer a distinctive and gratifying experience. The hotel’s first location opened in Shibuya in 2017, followed by a one-room hotel in Kagurazaka with its miniature nightclub.

TRUNK HOTEL YOYOGI PARK Year: 2023 Architecture: Keiji?Ashizawa?Design Interior Design: Keiji?Ashizawa Design & Norm Architects Photographers: Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen & Karl Tranberg Knudsen Total sqm: 1.499