design et al are delighted to announce that Supermaniac Inc. have been shortlisted for Hotel Under 50 Rooms – Asia Pacific Award in The International Hotel & Property Awards 2019.
“SUMIHEI” is a ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) established over 140 year ago in Kyotango. Supermaniac Inc. have been working on SUMIHEI for more than 10 years, and the separate cottage “KINEAN” (the first two rooms “Kaze-no-Ne” and “Nami-noNe”) was the first one. It has been discussed deeply with the client and the staff to find out what is really the lure of Kyotanago, where it is far away from central Kyoto and there is nothing but nature, and came to realise that the nothingness is beautiful and it emphasises the great nature they have.
Therefore, Supermaniac inc. decided to make SUMIHEI a place where people can fully sense the breathtakingly beautiful and colourful four seasons in Kyotango. The meaning of “KINEANN” reflects sounds of the seasons; Supermaniac inc. extended “KINEAN” onto the newly bought land in front of it. The client has been planning this extension for the customers longing to stay at KINEAN. Also, this project meets another demand from customers; the family hot spring where you can reserve spacey hot spring and use it privately with family or friends. For this extension, Supermaniac inc. have built 3 new buildings; lobby building, north building and south building. The lobby building has a lobby lounge and the family hot spring. The lobby lounge is where the customers can relax just looking at the great view of the sky and the ocean. You can also enjoy the various books and magazines with drinks.
The most significant feature of the lobby lounge is the cloud-like-shaped sofa, designed just for this lounge. It is great feeling just to lay down on the sofa and watch the sun go down / up. Also, Supermaniac inc. designed the bench, using Tango Chirimen textile. The outside terrace has outdoor sofa & table with bio ethanol stoves, and you can enjoy the scenery even closer. Next to the lobby building, there is the south building with Han-no-Ne and Hata-no-Ne, and the north building with Hoshi-no-Ne and Tsuki-no-Ne. Every room has different artwork, inspired by Japanese traditional art technique, called oshie (raised cloth), using Tango Chirimen textile on the bedroom back wall.
Those artworks are a symbol of each room: Tango snow crab for Han-no-Ne; weaving of the textile for Hata-no-Ne; shooting stars and cosmos for Hoshi-no-Ne; and moon for Tsuki-no-Ne.